Footprints without Feet NCERT Solutions Class 10 English

This post, “Footprints without Feet NCERT Solutions Class 10 English,” provides comprehensive NCERT solutions for Class 10 English Footprints Without Feet Chapter 5: Footprints without Feet (H. G. Wells). We recommend reading the summary of Footprints without Feet first to understand the chapter’s questions much better!

READ AND FIND OUT (Page 26)

Q.1. How did the invisible man first become visible?
Ans. Griffin, the invisible man, happened to step in some mud while walking barefoot in London. The mud stuck to his feet and left fresh muddy footprints on the steps and on the street. Two boys noticed these footprints appearing from nowhere and followed them until they faded away.

Q.2. Why was he wandering the streets?
Ans. His landlord disliked him and tried to turn him out of the house. In revenge Griffin set the house on fire. To escape without being seen, he had to remove all his clothes. So he became a homeless wanderer without clothes, without money and quite invisible.

READ AND FIND OUT (Page 28)

Q.1. Why does Mrs Hall find the scientist eccentric?
Ans. Mrs Hall found him eccentric because of his very unusual appearance — bandages round his forehead, dark glasses, a false nose, bushy side-whiskers and a large hat. He had no desire to talk to anyone, said he had come to Iping for solitude, kept his room locked, and had a strange, irritable temper. Since he had paid her in advance, she excused all this as the behaviour of an eccentric scientist.

Q.2. What curious episode occurs in the study?
Ans. Early one morning a clergyman and his wife were awakened by noises in the study. They crept downstairs and heard the chink of money being taken from the desk. Holding a poker firmly, the clergyman flung open the door and shouted, “Surrender!” But to his amazement the room appeared to be empty, though the desk had been opened and the housekeeping money was missing.

Q.3. What other extraordinary things happen at the inn?
Ans. Mrs Hall and her husband found the scientist’s door wide open early in the morning, though it was usually locked. The bedclothes were cold and his clothes and bandages were lying about the room, but he was nowhere to be seen. Suddenly Mrs Hall heard a sniff near her ear. The hat on the bedpost leapt up and hit her face, and then the bedroom chair sprang into the air and charged at her, legs foremost. It pushed both of them out of the room and slammed and locked the door. Mrs Hall almost fell down the stairs in hysterics, believing that the room was haunted by spirits.

Footprints without Feet Think About It Question Answer

Q.1. “Griffin was rather a lawless person.” Comment.
Ans. Griffin was indeed a lawless person. When his landlord tried to eject him, he set the house on fire out of revenge. He broke into a big London store, stole clothes, food and wine, and slept there. He robbed the stock of a theatrical company and callously attacked the shopkeeper from behind before taking all his money. Later he stole the housekeeping money from a clergyman’s desk. At the inn he frightened Mrs Hall and finally knocked the constable, Mr Jaffers, unconscious to escape arrest. Thus he used his great discovery only to commit crimes, and never respected the law or the rights of others.

Q.2. How would you assess Griffin as a scientist?
Ans. As a scientist Griffin was brilliant. He carried out experiment after experiment to prove that the human body could be made invisible, and finally succeeded by swallowing certain rare drugs, so that his body became as transparent as a sheet of glass. But he was a complete failure as a human being. Such a wonderful discovery could have been used for the good of mankind. Instead he wasted it on theft, arson and violence, and ended up as a hunted fugitive. A true scientist must have a sense of responsibility along with knowledge.

Footprints without Feet Talk About It Question Answer

Q.1. Would you like to become invisible? What advantages and disadvantages do you foresee?
Ans. It would be an exciting experience, but it would create many problems.

Advantages: One could move about freely and unnoticed, observe things secretly, escape from danger easily, and could even help catch criminals or serve as a spy for one’s country.

Disadvantages: Griffin’s story shows the difficulties clearly — one would have to remain without clothes, would suffer from cold, hunger and homelessness, and would live in constant fear of being detected. One would also lose all social life, identity and friendship. Worst of all, invisibility can easily tempt a person into crime. On the whole, I would rather remain visible and live a normal, honest life.

Q.2. Are there forces around us that are invisible? What would the world be like if you could see such forces or aspects of matter?
Ans. Yes, many forces around us are invisible like magnetism, gravity, electricity, air, sound waves, radio waves, X-rays and ultraviolet rays. Atoms, molecules, germs and viruses are also invisible to the naked eye and can be seen only through microscopes. If we could see all these, the world would look completely different, full of lines of force, waves and moving particles everywhere. It would be fascinating for scientists and would make learning much easier, but it might also confuse us, because the ordinary sights of the world would be hidden behind this crowd of forces and particles.

Q.3. What makes glass or water transparent? Do you think it would be scientifically possible for a man to become invisible?
Ans. An object is transparent when light rays pass through it instead of being absorbed or reflected. In glass and water the particles do not absorb or scatter visible light, so it passes straight through and we can see whatever lies behind them. For a human being to become invisible, every part of the body, like skin, bones, blood and organs, would have to allow light to pass through in the same way. This is not possible at present, because these tissues absorb and reflect light. Still, science fiction writers have often proved prophetic, so nothing can be ruled out completely for the future.

Glossary (Quick Revision)