Beehive Chapter 11 If I Were You

(a) These words are spoken by the Intruder.

(b) ‘It’ refers to the story of Gerrard’s life.

(c) unfamiliar.

(a) ‘I’ refers to the Intruder.

(b) He has been hunted long enough because he has killed a cop.

(c) hunted.

(i) The intruder has been referred to as ‘a poor hunted rat’ here.

(ii) The intruder has freedom to gain. He will gain it after killing Gerrard and by becoming Gerrard himself.

(iii) (a) lose — gain

(b) bounded — free

(a) In this context, the ‘villain’ is the Intruder.

(b) He has been luckier as he has not been frustrated in spite of delaying killing Gerrard.

(c) Imitation.

(i) The intruder wants to impersonate Gerrard but they wear different types of clothes. While Gerrard wears simple clothes, the intruder wears flashy clothes. These can let him down.

(ii) The intruder’s plans and preparations seem extremely interesting to Gerrard.

(iii) (a) very much — extremely.

(b) wisdom — intelligent.

(i) The intruder wants to kill Gerrard in order to take on his identity to elude the police.

(ii) Gerrard says that because he is sure that killing him also will not help the intruder in escaping from the police.

(iii) (a) recognition — identity.

(b) mislead — dodge.

(a) These lines are spoken by Gerrard.

(b) ‘You’ refers to the Intruder. In case, he shoots he is sure to be hanged.

(c) Apparently.

(i) Gerrard here talks about the crime he did. The result is that he killed someone and is wanted by the police.

(ii) Gerrard is expecting police that night becaue one of his men was caught and they found the proofs.

(iii) (a) hoping — expecting.

(6) by bad luck — unfortunately.

(i) Gerrard cannot deliver the props in time because he has to deal with the intruder.

(ii) Gerrard wishes to put the character of the intruder in his next play.

(iii) (a) boring — amusing.

(b) late — in time.

Gerrard seems to be a playwright or a play director. It is proved when Gerrard says – “...I can’t let you have the props in time for rehearsal.”... “ I think I’ll put it in my next play...” Also the disguise outfit and false moustaches prove him to be a theatre artist.

The Intruder has murdered a cop. He has been on the run for a long time. He wants to lead a free life. He wishes to kill Gerrard and impersonate him for the rest of his life. To fulfil his purpose, he breaks in Gerrard’s house stealthily.

The Intruder fails to catch Gerrard by surprise at the time of entering in the house. He keeps threatening Gerrard of dire-consequences and enquires from him at the gun-point. He considers himself to be intelligent but reveals too much about himself. It shows him to be naive and dumb.

The Intruder tries to surprise Gerrard in different ways e.g. by breaking in his house stealthily, by threatening to kill him and by sharing his plan of impersonating Gerrard. He fails to surprise Gerrard every time because Gerrard is more intelligent and a better story maker than him.

The Intruder wishes to lead a free life. He needs a different identity to do so as he has a criminal past. He wishes to kill Gerrard and then impersonate him. He wants to do so because Gerrard leads a mysterious life and has the same buildup as the Intruder.

Gerrard tells the Intruder that he is also a murderer. He is expecting police. His accomplice has been caught. Another of his men will ring up on seeing the police. He convinces the Intruder to run away with him. He pushes him in the cupboard and closes it. In this way, he outwits the Intruder.

One of Gerrard’s fellow theatre-persons calls up to enquire about the props. Gerrard knows about the call in advance. So, he uses it to prove to the Intruder that Gerrard’s man has warned him about the police. The Intruder believes Gerrard and follows him which enables Gerrard to overpower him.

The story of the play revolves around the Intruder’s wish and plan to impersonate Gerrard that can not be fulfilled even at the end. The title very efficiently conveys the sense of an unfulfilled wish and the impersonation attempts. Therefore, it is perfectly an apt title.

When the intruder got into the cottage, Gerrard was talking to someone on his phone. He was standing near divan and was packing things in a travelling bag. The intruder was of medium height. He had similar build up as that of Gerrard. He was wearing flashy clothes. He had a revolver in his hand. He looked like a thief.

Gerrard is obviously surprised, terrified and shocked to see an armed strange person in his cottage but he hides his feelings and pretends to welcome him. The intruder asks Gerrard to keep his hands up, to be calm and answer his questions regarding Gerrard’s personal life.

The intruder asks Gerrard many questions about his complete name, his driving skills, car, number of people visiting the cottage. He tries to copy Gerrard’s accent as well. Gerrard asks him to tell something about himself like – his name, his intentions, his profession.

The intruder tells Gerrard that he intends to kill him and impersonate him and thus dodge the police chasing him. He wishes to live there as Gerrard. The intruder tells Gerrard that he heard two persons talking about him when Gerrard had gone to Aylesbury. He followed Gerrard and collected other information about him.

Gerrard lives alone in a lonely cottage. Not many people visit him. His habits also suit his profession. Moreover there are few cops there and Gerrard also has a car. That makes Gerrard suitable to be impersonated.

Gerrard tells him that he himself is a criminal. Police is coming to arrest him. He proposed to escape together. He opens a door when the intruder steps in, Gerrard pushes him in and locks the cupboard.

Gerrard wears nice clothes, is particularly decorative, wears spectacles and speaks with American accent while the intruder wears flashy clothes, no spces and has no American accent.

The intruder is a jewel thief. He is wanted by the police for killing a cop. He comes there to kill and impersonate Gerrard and thus escape from the police forever.

Importance of Presence of Mind.
Presence of mind is the ability to think quickly, act wisely and solve the problem. We may be very intelligent, but if we do not have the presence of mind, our intelligence may not be of much use to us. Self-control and calmness are necessary when we confront an emergency. We should think right and do the right thing at the right time. Staying calm doesn’t mean that we should be slow. We need to react quickly, correctly and precisely. Nervousness can spoil all our plans. We can increase the power of our presence of mind by training our mind and sharpening our memory.

(i) The given line was spoken twice in the play. First, it was spoken by the intruder when he revealed to Gerrard why he was there and what he was going to do with him. On the second occasion, it was spoken by Gerrard when he was about to reveal his made-up story to the intruder.

(ii) When the intruder said this line, the surprise was that he was going to kill Gerrard and take over his identity. He told him that as Vincent Charles Gerrard, he would be free to go places and do nothing. He could eat well and sleep without having to be ready to run away at the sight of a cop.

When Gerrard said this line, the surprise was his made-up story about himself. The story was that Gerrard himself was a criminal like the intruder. When things went wrong with him, he had committed a murder and got away. Unfortunately, one of his men was arrested and certain things were found, which his men should have burnt. He said that he was expecting some trouble that night and therefore, his bag was packed and he was ready to escape.