Our Conclusions

We the students of Class X conclude that pain is a universal problem.  No country on earth, no community or family or individual is exempt from pain.  Pain can be of varying degrees and levels - global, international, national, societal, communal, individual etc.

In our poem, Night of the Scorpion, Nissim Ezekiel portrays the pain endured by the hapless mother when a scorpion driven out of its shelter due to the incessant rain chose to inflict its poison in her toe.  The amazing part is that the mother at the end of her long drawn out ordeal still comments, Thank God the scorpion picked on me...'

The superstitious villagers link the scorpion to 'the Evil One' (line 10). They claim that the poison will help in many ways. For example, by burning away the sins of the woman's former life - 'her previous birth' (line 19) - and ease her life after this one - 'her next birth' (line 22). Perhaps this is their way of making sense of the event: if good comes out of it, it is easier to bear.

Ezekiel's father who is described as a sceptic and a rationalist acts contrary to his beliefs. We read that when his wife is suffering, he tries 'every curse and blessing' (line 37) to help her. Although supposed to be a rationalist he is ready to experiment anything - even turn to the tantrik is the hope that his wife will be well.  'After twenty hours / it lost its sting' (lines 44-5) shows that nothing worked, after all.

The final three lines are poignant. We hear Ezekiel's mother's exact words, her simple speech is in contrast to the gabbling neighbours. She doesn't show any bitterness about her ordeal: she is just grateful that she was the one who was hurt rather than her children.  Mothers all over the world have an amazing capacity to endure pain, especially if their suffering can reduce the pain of their children. 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/english/poemscult/ezekielrev5.shtml