🏠 Exile House — Paragraph Questions and Answers
1. How does the poet describe the condition of the exile house?
Answer:
The exile house is old, weak and poorly built. Its tiled roof leaks whenever it rains. The four walls appear likely to collapse at any time. The family does not repair the house properly because they believe they will return to their homeland soon. The damaged house reflects the uncertainty and insecurity of their life in exile.
2. Why does the family continue living in a damaged house without repairing it?
Answer:
The family believes that its stay in exile is temporary. They hope to return to their homeland soon. Therefore, they do not want to spend much time or money repairing the house. However, their expected return does not happen, and they remain in exile for many years. The weak house represents their uncertain existence and unfulfilled hope.
3. How does the family transform the exile house into a lively home?
Answer:
The family gradually fills the surroundings with life. They grow papayas in front of the house and chillies in the garden. Changma plants form the fences. Pumpkins spread across the cowshed roof, while calves trot out of the manger. Grass grows on the roof, beans climb the vines and money plants enter through the window. These plants and animals make the temporary house lively and homely.
4. How does Tenzin Tsundue use natural imagery in Exile House?
Answer:
The poet uses images of papayas, chillies, changmas, pumpkins, grass, beans and money plants. He also describes calves, a cowshed and a manger. These images create a colourful picture of family life. They show how the refugees try to lead a normal life in exile. The uncontrolled growth of the plants also indicates the long passage of time.
5. What is ironic about the family’s belief that they will return home soon?
Answer:
The family believes that it will return to its homeland within a short time. Therefore, it treats the exile house as a temporary shelter. However, the family remains there so long that the fences grow into a jungle. The children grow up without clearly knowing their ancestral homeland. The contrast between their hope and reality creates the poem’s central irony.
6. What does the jungle-like fence symbolise?
Answer:
The jungle-like fence shows that the family has lived in exile for a long time. The plants that once formed a simple fence have grown thick and wild. They symbolise the passage of time and the fading hope of returning home. The jungle also represents the growing distance between the refugees and their homeland.
7. Why can the poet not tell his children where they came from?
Answer:
The poet’s children were born and raised in exile. They have not directly experienced their ancestral homeland. Their connection with Tibet exists mainly through stories and memories. As the years pass, this connection becomes weaker. The poet’s question expresses sadness and fear that the younger generation may lose its cultural identity.
8. How does Exile House present displacement and loss of identity?
Answer:
The poem presents a family forced to live away from its homeland. The members believe that their exile will end soon, but their temporary stay becomes permanent. Their children grow up without direct knowledge of their homeland. The poem shows that displacement causes physical separation, emotional pain and the gradual loss of cultural identity.
9. Why is the title Exile House suitable for the poem?
Answer:
A house usually represents safety, stability and belonging, while exile suggests separation and uncertainty. The family gradually makes the house comfortable, but it cannot fully accept the place as its true home. Its real homeland remains Tibet. The title expresses the conflict between their present life and their longing for their homeland.
10. What is the central message of Exile House?
Answer:
The poem presents the pain and uncertainty experienced by refugees. People in exile may build a new life, but their longing for their homeland continues. As exile lasts for years, memories may fade, and children may lose their connection with their ancestral culture. The poem highlights the importance of homeland, memory and cultural identity.