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Updated 6 August 2026

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Why the Novel Matters (D.H Lawrence) — NCERT Solutions

Madhya Pradesh Board · Class 12 · English

NCERT Solutions for Why the Novel Matters (D.H Lawrence), Madhya Pradesh Board Class 12 English: 16 textbook questions solved step by step.

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Stop and Think (Page 168)

1What are the things that mark animate things from the inanimate?Show solution

Given/Context: D.H. Lawrence is arguing for the primacy of 'man alive' — the living, breathing, feeling human being — over abstract categories like soul, mind, or body.

Answer: According to Lawrence, animate things are marked by the quality of being alive in the fullest, most integrated sense. They possess the capacity to feel, respond, move, and experience existence as a whole. The grass withers, the chameleon creeps, the flower fades and blooms — these are signs of life. Inanimate things, by contrast, are inert, dead, and incapable of response. What distinguishes the animate from the inanimate is not merely biological function but the wholeness of living experience — the integration of body, mind, and spirit into a single, responsive, feeling entity. A man who is merely a 'masticating corpse' eating his dinner is, in Lawrence's view, closer to the inanimate, because he has lost the quality of being truly, wholly alive.

2What is the simple truth that eludes the philosopher or the scientist?Show solution

Given/Context: Lawrence criticises both the philosopher and the scientist for reducing the living human being to an abstraction or a collection of parts.

Answer: The simple truth that eludes both the philosopher and the scientist is that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts — that a living human being cannot be reduced to any single component. The philosopher reduces man to a 'soul' or a 'mind'; the scientist dissects him into a heart, liver, stomach, brain, nerves, or glands. Neither grasps the totality of 'man alive.' The truth they miss is that a human being is simultaneously body, mind, spirit, and consciousness — all functioning together as one living whole. No single label or category can capture this wholeness. Life, in its full, integrated, pulsating reality, is the simple truth that abstract systems of thought consistently fail to acknowledge.

Stop and Think (Page 171)

1How does Lawrence reconcile inconsistency of behaviour with integrity?Show solution

Given/Context: Lawrence observes that human beings behave inconsistently — one moment firing bombs, the next preaching infinite love — and argues that the novel helps us understand this.

Answer: Lawrence reconciles inconsistency of behaviour with integrity by arguing that true integrity does not lie in being consistent to a fixed moral code or a set of rules ('Thou Shalt Nots'), but in being true to one's aliveness at every moment. A living person responds differently to different situations because life itself is fluid and contradictory. What is right in one case may be wrong in another. Integrity, for Lawrence, means being fully alive and responsive — acting from the 'whole consciousness' of body, mind, and spirit — rather than mechanically following a predetermined standard of behaviour. The novel, he argues, is the best guide to this kind of integrity because it shows us, in concrete human situations, when a person is truly alive and when they have become a 'dead man in life.' Inconsistency of behaviour is thus not a moral failure but a sign of genuine, responsive living, as long as it springs from the whole, alive self rather than from deadness or inertia.

Understanding the Text

1How does the novel reflect the wholeness of a human being?Show solution

Given/Context: D.H. Lawrence's essay 'Why the Novel Matters' argues for the supreme importance of the novel as a literary form.

Concept: Lawrence's central thesis is that the novel alone captures the totality of human experience.

Answer: According to Lawrence, the novel reflects the wholeness of a human being because it is the only form that gives full play to all things — body, mind, spirit, and consciousness — simultaneously. Other disciplines fragment the human being: the philosopher reduces man to a soul or mind; the scientist to a brain, nerves, or glands; the poet captures certain emotions; the saint focuses on the spiritual. Each deals with only a part of man alive.

The novel, however, presents human beings in the full complexity of their living experience — their contradictions, their passions, their moral choices, their physical existence, and their inner life — all at once. In the novel, the reader can see 'when the man goes dead, the woman goes inert.' It develops in the reader 'an instinct for life' rather than a rigid theory of right and wrong. Out of this 'full play of all things emerges the wholeness of a man, the wholeness of a woman, man alive, and live woman.' Thus the novel, uniquely among all books and disciplines, mirrors the complete, integrated, living human being.

2Why does the author consider the novel superior to philosophy, science or even poetry?Show solution

Given/Context: Lawrence compares the novel to other great intellectual and creative disciplines.

Answer: Lawrence considers the novel superior to philosophy, science, and poetry for the following reasons:

Philosophy deals only with the mind or the soul — it reduces man to an abstraction. The philosopher is a 'great master' of only a bit of man alive, never the whole.

Science dissects man into parts — heart, liver, brain, nerves, glands — and studies the dead rather than the living. The scientist, Lawrence says, has 'absolutely no use for me so long as I am man alive.'

Poetry, though it can move us deeply, captures particular emotions or moments of experience. It cannot, Lawrence argues, 'make the whole man alive tremble' the way the novel can.

The novel, by contrast, is 'the one bright book of life.' It is a 'tremulation on the ether' that can make the whole man alive tremble — body, mind, and spirit together. It presents human beings in their full, living complexity, showing right and wrong not as abstract rules but as instincts of the whole consciousness. It helps the reader develop a feel for life itself, not merely a theory about it.

Thus, while philosophy, science, and poetry are each masters of different bits of man alive, only the novel captures the whole human being and is therefore supreme.

3What does the author mean by 'tremulations on ether' and 'the novel as a tremulation'?Show solution

Given/Context: Lawrence uses the metaphor of 'tremulations on the ether' to describe books and, more specifically, the novel.

Answer: The phrase 'tremulations on the ether' is a metaphor drawn from the old scientific concept of 'ether' — the invisible medium through which light and sound waves were once thought to travel. A 'tremulation' is a vibration or trembling.

By calling books 'tremulations on the ether,' Lawrence means that books are, in themselves, merely vibrations or ripples — they are not life itself, but representations or echoes of life. 'Books are not life. They are only tremulations on the ether.' In other words, no book can fully substitute for the living experience of being alive.

However, Lawrence makes a crucial distinction: the novel as a tremulation is special because it has the unique power to make 'the whole man alive tremble.' While other books (philosophy, science, poetry) may cause partial vibrations — touching the mind, or the spirit, or the emotions — the novel vibrates through the entire living person. It resonates with the wholeness of human experience.

Thus, the metaphor captures both the limitation of all books (they are not life) and the unique power of the novel (it comes closest to life by engaging the whole human being).

4What are the arguments presented in the essay against the denial of the body by spiritual thinkers?Show solution

Given/Context: Lawrence argues against those — particularly spiritual thinkers and saints — who deny or diminish the importance of the body.

Answer: Lawrence presents the following arguments against the denial of the body by spiritual thinkers:

The body is inseparable from the self: Lawrence uses the example of his own hand — 'My hand is alive, it flickers with a life of its own.' The body is not a mere vessel or prison for the soul; it is itself alive and integral to the whole person.

The whole is greater than the part: To reduce a human being to only a 'soul' or 'spirit' is to deal with merely a part of the person. Lawrence 'absolutely flatly denies' that he is only a soul, or only a body, or only a mind. He is all of these together — 'man alive.'

Denial of the body leads to deadness: When spiritual thinkers insist that only the soul matters, they effectively kill the living person. Lawrence argues that 'so much of a man walks about dead and a carcass in the street and house, today' — this deadness is partly the result of denying the body and the physical dimension of life.

The saint is a master of only a 'bit' of man alive: The saint, like the philosopher and the scientist, deals with only one aspect of the human being. He 'never gets the whole hog.' True human wholeness requires the body to be honoured alongside the mind and spirit.

Life itself is the reason for living: Lawrence argues that 'life itself, and not inert safety, is the reason for living.' Spiritual systems that deny the body in pursuit of safety or salvation miss the point of existence entirely.

Talking about the Text

1The interest in a novel springs from the reactions of characters to circumstances. It is more important for characters to be true to themselves (integrity) than to what is expected of them (consistency). (A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds — Emerson.)Show solution

Discussion Points (for pair/group work):

Point 1 — Integrity vs. Consistency:
Lawrence's essay supports Emerson's view. A character who always behaves 'consistently' — doing what society, morality, or convention expects — may actually be dead in Lawrence's sense: mechanical, inert, not truly alive. The most memorable characters in literature — Hamlet, Raskolnikov, Emma Bovary, Ursula Brangwen — are interesting precisely because they are unpredictable, because they respond to circumstances from the depths of their whole, living selves rather than from a fixed code.

Point 2 — Reactions to Circumstances:
The novel's power lies in showing how a living person responds when circumstances test them. These responses may be inconsistent with past behaviour or social expectation, but they reveal the character's true inner life. This is what Lawrence means by 'an instinct for life' — the character acts from wholeness, not from a rule book.

Point 3 — Emerson's Insight:
Emerson's remark that 'a foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds' aligns perfectly with Lawrence's argument. Rigid consistency is a sign of a small, fearful mind that cannot respond freshly to life. Great minds — and great characters in novels — are willing to contradict themselves because they are alive to the complexity of experience.

Conclusion: The novel is the ideal form for exploring integrity over consistency because it can show the full, contradictory, living human being in action, without reducing them to a type or a moral lesson.

2'The novel is the one bright book of life'. 'Books are not life'. Discuss the distinction between the two statements. Recall Ruskin's definition of 'What is a Good Book?' in Woven Words Class XI.

Discussion Points (for pair/group work):

The Apparent Contradiction:
At first glance, the two statements seem contradictory. If 'books are not life,' how can 'the novel be the one bright book of life'? Lawrence is making a careful and important distinction.

'Books are not life':
This statement acknowledges the fundamental limitation of all written texts. A book is made of words — it is a 'tremulation on the ether,' a vibration, a representation. It cannot bleed, breathe, or feel. No book, however great, can fully substitute for the experience of living. This is a humble, honest admission.

'The novel is the one bright book of life':
Despite this limitation, the novel is unique among books because it comes closest to capturing the wholeness of life. It does not reduce human experience to an abstraction (as philosophy does) or a fragment (as science or poetry does). It makes 'the whole man alive tremble.' It is 'bright' because it illuminates life in its full complexity.

Connection to Ruskin:
Ruskin defined a good book as one written by someone who has something genuine to say and says it with care — a book that enlarges our understanding of life and humanity. Lawrence's 'novel as the book of life' echoes this: the best novels are those that make us more alive, more aware, more human.

Conclusion: The distinction is between a book as a physical object or text (not life) and the novel as a living experience for the reader (the book of life). The novel, at its best, bridges the gap between text and life more successfully than any other form.

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Appreciation

1Certain catch phrases are recurrently used as pegs to hang the author's thoughts throughout the essay. List these and discuss how they serve to achieve the argumentative force of the essay.

Answer:

The following catch phrases (recurring key expressions) are used as structural and rhetorical pegs throughout the essay:

'Man alive' / 'man alive' — This is the central, most frequently repeated phrase. It encapsulates Lawrence's entire argument: the human being as a whole, living, integrated entity. Every time it recurs, it reinforces the contrast with the dead, fragmented versions of humanity offered by philosophy, science, and religion.

'The whole is greater than the part' — This phrase is the logical backbone of the essay. It is used to argue against all reductive definitions of the human being.

'The novel is the one bright book of life' / 'The novel is the book of life' — This is the essay's central claim, repeated with slight variations to hammer home the supremacy of the novel.

'Tremulations on the ether' — Used to describe books in general, this phrase is then modified to show the novel's special power.

'Dead man in life' / 'goes dead' — The counterpoint to 'man alive,' used to describe what happens when a person loses their wholeness.

'Never get the whole hog' — A colloquial phrase used to dismiss the claims of the saint, scientist, philosopher, and poet.

How they achieve argumentative force:

Repetition creates a cumulative rhetorical effect, making the argument feel inevitable and self-evident.
The phrases are memorable and concrete, making abstract ideas accessible.
They create a rhythmic, almost incantatory quality that persuades through feeling as well as logic.
They serve as signposts, guiding the reader through the essay's argument and reminding them of the central thesis at each stage.

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2The language of argument is intense and succeeds in convincing the reader through rhetorical devices. Identify the devices used by the author to achieve this force.

Answer:

Lawrence uses a range of rhetorical devices to achieve the intense, convincing force of his argument:

Repetition (Anaphora): Phrases like 'man alive,' 'the novel is the book of life,' and 'dead man in life' are repeated throughout. This creates emphasis and makes the argument feel like a building wave.

Example: 'To be alive, to be man alive, to be whole man alive: that is the point.'

Rhetorical Questions: Lawrence poses questions that he then answers himself, drawing the reader into his line of reasoning.

Example: 'What then? Turn truly, honourably to the novel...'

Direct Address (Apostrophe): Lawrence frequently addresses the reader directly as 'you,' creating intimacy and urgency.

Example: 'I do hope you begin to get my idea...'

Contrast and Antithesis: The essay is built on sharp contrasts — alive vs. dead, whole vs. part, novel vs. other books, man alive vs. masticating corpse.

Example: 'You may eat your dinner as man alive, or as mere masticating corpse.'

Hyperbole: Lawrence makes sweeping, exaggerated claims to drive his point home.

Example: 'I consider myself superior to the saint, the scientist, the philosopher, and the poet.'

Metaphor: 'Tremulations on the ether,' 'bright book of life,' 'pianoforte with half the notes mute' — vivid metaphors make abstract ideas concrete.

Colloquial Language: Phrases like 'never get the whole hog' and 'It's no good inventing Thou Shalt Nots' give the essay an informal, conversational energy that makes it feel honest and direct.

Enumeration/Listing: Lawrence lists the philosopher, scientist, saint, and poet to show their collective inadequacy, then dismisses them all at once.

Parallelism: Balanced sentence structures create a sense of logical order and inevitability.

Example: 'bodily, mental, spiritual at once.'

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Language Work — A. Vocabulary

1There are a few non-English expressions in the essay. Identify them and mention the language they belong to. Can you guess the meaning of the expressions from the context?

Answer:

The following non-English expressions appear in the essay (or are referenced in the broader context of the chapter):

'Thou Shalt Nots' — This is a Biblical Hebrew expression (from the Ten Commandments, originally in Hebrew, transmitted through Latin and then the King James English Bible). In context, Lawrence uses it to mean rigid moral prohibitions or rules. He argues that inventing more 'Thou Shalt Nots' is not the answer to the chaos of modern life.

'simulacrum' — From Latin (simulacrum = likeness, image, phantom). In context: 'a ghastly simulacrum of life' means a hollow, false imitation of life — something that looks like life but is actually dead.

'co-respondent' — A legal term from Latin/French origin (co- + respondent). In a divorce case, a co-respondent is the third party named as having committed adultery with one of the spouses. Lawrence uses it to illustrate the wild inconsistency of human behaviour.

'carcass' — From Old French (carcasse), meaning a dead body. Used metaphorically by Lawrence to describe people who are physically alive but spiritually/emotionally dead.

Note: Students should look through the full essay text for any additional Latin or French phrases that may appear in sections not reproduced here (e.g., references to Plato, or any Latin tags).

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2Given below are a few roots from Latin. Make a list of the words that can be derived from them: mens (mind), corpus (body), sanare (to heal).

Answer:

**Root 1: mens (mind)**

mental
mentality
mention (originally 'to bring to mind')
mentor
demented (de + mens = out of one's mind)
dementia
comment
commensurate

**Root 2: corpus (body)**

corpse
corporal (relating to the body)
corporation (a 'body' of people)
corps
corpulent (having a large body)
incorporate (to bring into one body)
corpus (a body of work)
corpuscle (a tiny body, e.g., blood corpuscle)
habeas corpus (legal term: 'you shall have the body')

**Root 3: sanare (to heal)**

sane
sanity
insane
sanatorium / sanitarium
sanitation
sanitary
sanitise
unsanitary

Note: These derivations show how Latin roots have entered English, often through French or directly, and how a single root can generate a large family of related words.

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Language Work — B. Grammar: Task

1Identify the intransitive verbs and the copulas in the examples below, from the text in this unit. Say what the category of the complement is.
- I am a thief and a murderer.
- Right and wrong is an instinct.
- The flower fades.
- I am a very curious assembly of incongruous parts.
- The bud opens.
- The Word shall stand forever.
- It is a funny sort of superstition.
- You're a philosopher.
- Nothing is important.
- The whole is greater than the part.
- I am a man, and alive.
- I am greater than anything that is merely a part of me.
- The novel is the book of life.

Given: A list of sentences from the text. We must identify whether the main verb is an intransitive verb or a copula (linking verb), and state the category of the complement.

Key Concepts:

Copula (linking verb): Connects subject to a complement (noun phrase or adjective phrase). Most common: be, become, seem.
Intransitive verb: Does not take a direct object. May be followed by adverbial phrases.
Complement categories: Noun Phrase (NP) or Adjective Phrase (AdjP).

Sentence	Verb	Type	Complement	Category of Complement
I am a thief and a murderer.	am	Copula	a thief and a murderer	Noun Phrase (NP)
Right and wrong is an instinct.	is	Copula	an instinct	Noun Phrase (NP)
The flower fades.	fades	Intransitive	—	No complement
I am a very curious assembly of incongruous parts.	am	Copula	a very curious assembly of incongruous parts	Noun Phrase (NP)
The bud opens.	opens	Intransitive	—	No complement
The Word shall stand forever.	shall stand	Intransitive	forever (adverbial)	Adverb Phrase
It is a funny sort of superstition.	is	Copula	a funny sort of superstition	Noun Phrase (NP)
You're a philosopher.	are	Copula	a philosopher	Noun Phrase (NP)
Nothing is important.	is	Copula	important	Adjective Phrase (AdjP)
The whole is greater than the part.	is	Copula	greater than the part	Adjective Phrase (AdjP)
I am a man, and alive.	am	Copula	a man (NP) + alive (AdjP)	NP + AdjP
I am greater than anything that is merely a part of me.	am	Copula	greater than anything...	Adjective Phrase (AdjP)
The novel is the book of life.	is	Copula	the book of life	Noun Phrase (NP)

Summary of findings:

Copulas identified: am/is/are (forms of be) in most sentences.
Intransitive verbs identified: fades, opens, shall stand.
Copula complements are either Noun Phrases (naming what the subject is) or Adjective Phrases (describing the subject's quality).

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2Identify other sentences from the text with intransitive verbs and copulas.

Answer:

The following additional sentences from the text contain intransitive verbs or copulas:

**Sentences with Copulas (forms of be, become, seem):**

'My hand is alive.' — is (copula) + alive (Adjective Phrase)
'The novel is supremely important.' — is (copula) + supremely important (Adjective Phrase)
'Books are not life.' — are (copula) + not life (Noun Phrase, negated)
'The Bible is a great novel.' — is (copula) + a great novel (Noun Phrase)
'It seems important.' — seems (copula) + important (Adjective Phrase)
'The Word becomes more and more boring.' — becomes (copula) + more and more boring (Adjective Phrase)
'What is right in one case is wrong in another.' — is (copula) + right/wrong (Adjective Phrase)

Sentences with Intransitive Verbs:

'The grass withers.' — withers (intransitive; no complement)
'The chameleon creeps from a brown rock on to a green leaf.' — creeps (intransitive) + prepositional phrase (adverbial complement)
'So much of a man walks about dead...' — walks (intransitive) + adverbial phrase
'The man goes dead.' — goes (used here as a copula/intransitive linking verb) + dead (Adjective)
'The woman goes inert.' — goes (copula/intransitive) + inert (Adjective)

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Language Work — C. Spelling and Pronunciation

1Look for other words with 'ch', 'gh' letter combinations and guess how they are pronounced.

Answer:

Additional words with 'ch' and their pronunciation:

'ch' pronounced /k/ (Latin/Greek origin):

ache /eɪk/
anchor /ˈæŋkər/
epoch /ˈiːpɒk/
stomach /ˈstʌmək/
monarch /ˈmɒnək/
orchestra /ˈɔːkɪstrə/
scheme /skiːm/
school /skuːl/
chrome /krəʊm/
echo /ˈekəʊ/

'ch' pronounced /tʃ/ (native English/Germanic origin):

child /tʃaɪld/
church /tʃɜːtʃ/
cheese /tʃiːz/
choose /tʃuːz/
much /mʌtʃ/
reach /riːtʃ/
teach /tiːtʃ/

'ch' pronounced /ʃ/ (French origin):

machine /məˈʃiːn/
brochure /ˈbrəʊʃə/
parachute /ˈpærəʃuːt/
moustache /məˈstɑːʃ/
cliché /ˈkliːʃeɪ/

Additional words with 'gh' and their pronunciation:

'gh' pronounced /g/ (initial position):

ghost /gəʊst/
ghastly /ˈgɑːstli/
ghee /giː/
gherkin /ˈgɜːkɪn/

'gh' pronounced /f/ (medial/final position):

rough /rʌf/
tough /tʌf/
enough /ɪˈnʌf/
cough /kɒf/
laugh /lɑːf/
draught /drɑːft/

'gh' silent (medial/final position):

night /naɪt/
light /laɪt/
right /raɪt/
daughter /ˈdɔːtər/
thought /θɔːt/
through /θruː/
although /ɔːlˈðəʊ/
high /haɪ/
sigh /saɪ/
weigh /weɪ/
eight /eɪt/
straight /streɪt/

General Rule Summary:

gh at the beginning of a word = always /g/
gh in the middle or end = either /f/ (in words like rough, tough, laugh) or silent (in words like night, thought, through)
There is no simple phonetic rule; the pronunciation must often be learned word by word, though etymology (Old English vs. borrowed words) provides clues.

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Key topics in Why the Novel Matters (D.H Lawrence) include Core Idea of the Essay, Lawrence's View of the Self, Contrast with Parson, Philosopher, Scientist, and Saint, The Novel and the Whole Human Being. Study these first, then practise questions on each for the Madhya Pradesh Board Class 12 board exam.

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Stop and Think (Page 168)

Stop and Think (Page 171)

Understanding the Text

Talking about the Text

Appreciation

Language Work — A. Vocabulary

Language Work — B. Grammar: Task

Language Work — C. Spelling and Pronunciation

Frequently Asked Questions

Sources & Official References

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Important Questions

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