Tomorrow (Joseph Conrad) — NCERT Solutions

Given: The passage describes the conversation between Bessie and Harry.

Answer: Bessie tells Harry that his father has been saving and preparing everything for his return — that all the old man has in the world is meant for Harry. She reveals that Captain Hagberd has been buying furniture and making domestic arrangements in anticipation of Harry's homecoming, and that he has been planning for Harry to settle down in Colebrook. She also hints at the old man's plan for Harry to marry her, which is the detail that enrages Harry most. He is furious at the idea that his father expects him to come back and live a settled domestic life — 'sit on it like a dam' toad in a hole' — in exchange for the inheritance. He sees it as a trap and a manipulation rather than a loving welcome.

Given: The passage describes Captain Hagberd's behaviour during Harry's visit.

Answer: Captain Hagberd called out to Bessie from the window to ask whether the stranger — whom he called 'that information fellow' — had gone yet. He was suspicious and hostile towards the visitor (his own son, whom he did not recognise) and was relieved when he thought Bessie had driven him away. He then spoke to her in a tone of triumphant happiness, telling her not to be impatient and reassuring her with his eternal refrain: 'One day more.' He also threatened, in his excitement, to cut Harry off with a shilling and leave everything to Bessie if Harry did not comply with his wishes — revealing both his possessiveness and his distorted sense of control.

Given: The story traces Captain Hagberd's obsessive belief across many years.

Answer: The consistency in Captain Hagberd's madness lies in his unshakeable, unwavering belief that his son Harry will return 'tomorrow'. This single idea organises his entire existence and gives it purpose and meaning. Every action he takes — buying furniture, preparing the cottage, tending the garden, advertising in newspapers, settling in Colebrook — is directed towards this one fixed point. His madness is not chaotic or random; it is remarkably ordered and purposeful within its own logic. He is rational in all other matters, as the barber observes, and even within his delusion he is consistent: he never says Harry has already come, nor does he abandon hope — he simply perpetually defers the arrival to 'tomorrow'. This consistency gives his madness a kind of tragic dignity and makes it both pitiable and, in its own way, coherent.

Given: The story describes Hagberd's domestic preparations in detail.

Answer: Captain Hagberd prepares for Harry's homecoming with meticulous and loving care. He buys furniture — described as carpets thick and vertical like fragments of columns, and gleaming white marble tops — and describes each purchase carefully to Bessie as though she has a legitimate interest in them. He plans to lay the overgrown yard of his cottage with concrete. He considers doing away with the fence between his property and the Carvils' so that Bessie can have her drying-line clear of her flowers — hinting at the domestic future he envisions for Harry and Bessie together. He also continues to advertise in Sunday newspapers for Harry, believing these sheets are read in foreign parts to the ends of the world. Every detail of his daily life is oriented towards the moment of Harry's return, which he believes is always just one day away.

Given: The story traces the gradual effect of Hagberd's delusion on Bessie.

Answer: Bessie began to share Hagberd's insanity gradually, drawn in through the kindness of her own heart. Initially she humoured him out of pity, pretending to believe in Harry's imminent return in order to keep the old man calm and happy. Over time, however, his madness entered her life and took root. She began to wonder — what if his son really did return? She found herself emotionally invested in the possibility, partly because Hagberd's hints about a future for her with Harry offered her a rare vision of escape from her oppressive life with her tyrannical blind father. The story notes that 'this madness that had entered her life through the kind impulses of her heart had reasonable details.' She began to argue on Hagberd's behalf, to manage his delusion carefully, and to feel a personal stake in the outcome — so much so that when Harry actually arrived and proved to be a disappointment, she was devastated.

Given: The story describes Harry's arrival and his conversation with Bessie.

Answer: Harry's reasons for coming to meet old Hagberd were primarily practical and financial rather than sentimental. He had spent his last shillings on the railway fare to Colebrook and his last twopence on a shave — he was penniless and hungry. He came out of respect for the old man, as he said, but also clearly with the hope of benefiting from his father's accumulated savings. He was aware that his father had been saving everything for him. However, he had no intention of settling down in Colebrook or living the domestic life his father had planned. He was contemptuous of the idea of being trapped in a 'hole' in exchange for the inheritance. His visit was opportunistic — he came to see what he could get, not out of genuine filial love or a desire for reconciliation.

Given: The story describes Bessie's hopes and Harry's actual character and behaviour.

Answer: Harry's return proves to be a profound disappointment for Bessie on multiple levels. First, she had nurtured a quiet, secret hope — fed by Hagberd's hints — that Harry would be a worthy man who would value her and offer her a way out of her miserable life with her tyrannical father. Instead, Harry turns out to be a selfish, irresponsible wanderer with no intention of staying. He is charming but callous, taking the food she offers, accepting her money, and raising her hopes momentarily ('I have a great mind to stop... for a week') only to make clear he is leaving. Second, his violent contempt for his father's plans and his refusal to even acknowledge the old man destroy the fragile world of hope that Bessie had helped to sustain. Third, he leaves without giving her anything — not love, not rescue, not even kindness — taking her half-sovereign and swaggering away. She is left with nothing but the hollow voice of old Hagberd shouting of his 'everlasting tomorrow', and the tyranny of her blind father calling her back inside.

Points for Discussion:

This statement is richly illustrated by Conrad's story 'Tomorrow'.

1. Captain Hagberd's equilibrium: Hagberd's madness is built upon the belief that his son will return 'tomorrow'. This belief gives him self-esteem — he is a father who has not given up, a man with purpose, a provider preparing a home. As long as this belief is undisturbed, he is, in his own way, content and even cheerful. The barber notes that in all other matters he is quite rational.

2. Disturbance causes unhappiness: When Bessie once gently tried to suggest that Harry might be drowned, Hagberd's reaction was one of horror and near-collapse — 'as though he had seen a crack open out in the firmament.' His self-esteem, his entire identity as a waiting father, was threatened, and the result was acute distress. This confirms the statement: disturbing the equilibrium of even a mad mind causes suffering.

3. Broader application: The statement applies beyond madness. Old Carvil's self-esteem rests on his power over Bessie — disturb that, and he howls. Harry's self-esteem rests on his freedom and his contempt for domesticity — threaten it, and he rages. Even Bessie's quiet, suppressed hope for a better future is a form of mental equilibrium; its destruction at the end of the story leaves her in silent despair.

4. Conclusion: Conrad suggests that human beings construct mental worlds — sane or insane — that protect their sense of self. These constructions, however fragile or deluded, are necessary for psychological survival. Their violent disruption, as the story shows, leads not to liberation but to unhappiness.

Points for Discussion:

Both stories deal with the theme of paralysis, entrapment, and the failure to escape, and both centre on a young woman whose life is constrained by duty, fear, and circumstance.

1. Entrapment by a domineering father: Eveline is trapped by her abusive, demanding father; Bessie is trapped by her blind, tyrannical father Mr Carvil. Both women are denied autonomy and personal happiness by paternal authority.

2. The promise of escape that fails: Eveline has the opportunity to leave with Frank but cannot bring herself to go; Bessie has the brief, tantalising possibility of escape through Harry Hagberd, but he proves unworthy and leaves. In both cases, the escape route closes, and the woman is left in her original condition of servitude.

3. Duty versus desire: Both women feel the pull of duty — to their fathers, to their domestic roles — even when those duties are oppressive. This internal conflict prevents them from seizing freedom even when it is briefly available.

4. The theme of 'tomorrow' / deferred living: Just as Hagberd perpetually defers life to 'tomorrow', Eveline defers her own happiness, always finding reasons to stay. Both stories suggest that the habit of deferral becomes a prison.

5. Difference: Joyce's story ends at the moment of paralysis — Eveline frozen at the gangway. Conrad's story ends with Bessie returning to her 'inferno of a cottage', equally paralysed but with the added cruelty of having had hope raised and dashed. Conrad's treatment is perhaps more bitter.

Conclusion: Both stories are powerful studies of lives unlived, of hope deferred until it dies, and of the social and psychological forces that keep individuals — especially women — trapped in cycles of duty and despair.

Answer:

Conrad uses the technique of gradual, indirect revelation — sometimes called the retrospective or delayed exposition technique — to unfold Captain Hagberd's past. Rather than presenting the backstory directly or chronologically, Conrad reveals it piece by piece through the conversations and observations of secondary characters, most notably the barber.

1. The barber as narrator: The barber serves as a kind of unreliable but informative chorus. Through his gossip and psychological commentary in the tap-room, the reader learns about Hagberd's loss of his son, the death of his wife, his search for Harry, and his eventual settlement in Colebrook. This technique is realistic — we learn about people the way we actually do, through hearsay and community gossip.

2. Dramatic irony: Because the backstory is revealed gradually, the reader understands Hagberd's situation more fully than some characters do, creating dramatic irony — particularly when Harry arrives and does not recognise the depth of his father's devotion.

3. Fragmented revelation: Details are dropped casually — the advertisement in the Sunday papers, the sale of the Colchester home, the wife's death — rather than being explained in a block. This mimics the way memory and community knowledge actually work, and keeps the reader engaged in piecing together the full picture.

4. Effect: This technique creates sympathy for Hagberd without sentimentalising him. By the time we understand the full extent of his loss and his love, we are already emotionally invested, making the story's ending — with Harry's callous departure — all the more poignant.

Answer:

Conrad subtly suggests that insanity is not confined to Captain Hagberd alone — it is distributed, in varying degrees, among several characters:

1. The barber: The barber laughs at Hagberd's obsession, yet confesses that it has become 'catching'. He admits that whenever a strange sailorman comes in, he cannot help thinking, 'Suppose he's the son of old Hagberd!' He laughs at himself for it, but the admission reveals that Hagberd's delusion has infected his own mind. His obsessive plan to 'cure' Hagberd through 'judicious chaffing' is itself a kind of fixation.

2. Old Carvil: Carvil's behaviour is a form of wilful, deliberate madness — he has made himself more helpless than his blindness requires, purely to enslave Bessie. His lust for laziness and domination, his refusal to move or act independently, suggests a mind that has chosen a destructive and irrational path.

3. Bessie herself: Bessie gradually begins to share Hagberd's insanity. She sustains his delusion, begins to invest emotionally in the hope of Harry's return, and allows herself to dream of escape through a man she has never met. The story notes explicitly that 'this madness had entered her life.'

4. Harry Hagberd: Harry's violent, disproportionate rage when he learns of his father's plans — sending the plate flying, cursing, raging — suggests an instability that mirrors, in a different register, his father's obsession.

Implications: Conrad implies that the line between sanity and madness is thin and permeable. Hagberd's madness is simply the most visible form of a universal human tendency — to construct comforting fictions, to defer reality, to enslave others or be enslaved by hope. The story suggests that all human beings live, to some degree, by their own version of 'tomorrow'.

Answer:

Example 1:
'She began to totter silently back towards her stuffy little inferno of a cottage. It had no lofty portal, no terrific inscription of forfeited hopes—she did not understand wherein she had sinned.'

This is an allusion to Dante's Inferno (from The Divine Comedy), specifically to the inscription above the gates of Hell: 'Abandon all hope, ye who enter here.' The 'lofty portal' and 'terrific inscription' refer to this famous image. Conrad compares Bessie's cottage — with its tyrannical blind father and suffocating domestic servitude — to Hell itself. The allusion deepens the tragedy of Bessie's situation: she is condemned to a kind of living hell, yet unlike Dante's sinners, she does not even understand what sin she has committed to deserve it. The comparison underscores the injustice and hopelessness of her condition.

Example 2:
'With his maritime rig, his weather-beaten face, his beard of Father Neptune, he resembled a deposed sea-god who had exchanged the trident for the spade.'

This is an allusion to Neptune (Poseidon), the Roman (Greek) god of the sea, traditionally depicted with a trident. The comparison between Hagberd and a 'deposed sea-god' is richly ironic: Hagberd was once a sea captain — a man of the ocean — but has now abandoned the sea entirely and taken to gardening (the spade). The allusion suggests a fall from power and purpose, a man displaced from his natural element, now reduced to pottering in a garden while waiting for a son who never comes. It gives Hagberd a mythic, tragic dimension.

Answer:

The stress pattern shifts when a word changes its grammatical function (verb → noun). In many cases, the stress moves to a later syllable in the noun form.

Note on stress:

• pre'sent (verb, stress on second syllable) → presen'tation (noun, stress on third syllable)
• ex'amine (verb, stress on second syllable) → exami'nation (noun, stress on fourth syllable)
• pro'duce (verb) → pro'duction (noun, stress remains on second syllable)
• 'calculate (verb, stress on first syllable) → calcu'lation (noun, stress on third syllable)
• dis'tribute (verb) → distri'bution (noun, stress on third syllable)
• 'specialise (verb, stress on first syllable) → speciali'sation (noun, stress on fourth syllable)

This pattern illustrates the general rule that nominalisation (forming nouns from verbs) often shifts the primary stress towards the suffix, particularly with suffixes like -ation, -tion, and -sation.