Forgetting (humorous essay) Robert Lynd

Forgetting                    Robert Lynd                       

Robert Lynd is a very humorous and delightful essayist. His essays are simple, playful humorous and satirical. His style of writing is elegant and charming. In his essay “Forgetting”, Robert Lynd writes about the root causes of forgetting and also explains what items are usually forgotten by people.

2.  Robert Lynd says that he is amazed by the efficiency of human memory. Modern man remembers even telephone numbers and names of actors and actresses and cricketers and footballers and murderers. Thus he can remember almost everything in his life. For example man does not forget a single item of his clothing when dressing. Similarly no one forgets to shut the front door when leaving the house. Lynd says that the institution of family survives in modern cities because ordinary people have efficient memory power.

3.Robert Lynd says that in some matters human memory works less than its usual perfection. For example most people forget to take the medicine. But they don’t forget to take meals and medicines are usually taken before or after or during meals. Psychologists say that we forget things because we wish to forget them. So people don’t like medicines and that is why they forget them. In this context Robert Lynd humorously remarks that chemists make a lot of money because people forget to take medicines and their illness is not cured and they buy more and more medicines.

4.  According to Robert Lynd, the commonest form of forgetfulness is in posting letters. Most people forget to post letters. So Robert Lynd humorously remarks that if any one asks him to post a letter is a poor judge of character because Robert Lynd never posts the letter even if he keeps it in his pocket for many days. Similarly the author leaves walking sticks and umbrellas during his journey.

5.  Lynd says that a list of articles lost by railway travellers has been published and many people who read the list have been astonished at the absent mindedness of the people, because most of these travellers are young sportsmen. They have forgotten their cricket-bats and footballs. Lynd says that these boys returning from the games have their imaginations filled with the vision of the playing field. The defeated players are very sad and they thought about their lost opportunities and failures. The victorious boys have their heads among the stars, thinking about their achievements. But both group of boys were in a dream world and they forgot to take their cricket bats and footballs when leaving the train. They are citizens of dreamland.

6.  Similarly the anglers are also the citizens of dream-land. They are day-dreamers. They forget to take the fishing rod when they go home in the evening. Their minds are filled with matter more glorious. Thus both the sportsmen and anglers are absentminded people. Lynd remarks that such absentmindedness is a blessing because these people forget their unhappiness and live in a dream world of Utopia.  Great thinkers, poets and philosophers were absent-minded people because their minds were full of high ideals and imaginations. Socrates, the great Greek Philosopher and S.T.Coleridge, the great English poet were absent-minded people.

7.  According to Robert Lynd, the possession of a good memory is a great advantage for all people. Many great writers, poets and music composers have amazingly good memory. Memory is half the substance of their art. On the other hand statesmen have extraordinarily bad memories. Often the facts in the autobiographies and speeches of statesmen are challenged. It shows that they have very poor memory. In this context Robert Lynd remarks that the world has not yet produced an ideal statesman.

8.  Ordinarily good memory is very common. So if a man does not have a good memory, we may call him an eccentric. Lynd narrates a very funny story of a father who takes his baby out in a perambulator in the morning. When he was going with his child in the perambulator, he walked into a public house for a glass of beer. The child was sitting in the perambulator outside in the street. After some time, his wife came that way for shopping. She was horrified to see her sleeping baby in the perambulator. She was so angry with her husband that she decided to teach him a lesson and wheeled away the perambulator. At lunch-time the husband came home smiling cheerfully. He has completely forgotten all about his child and the perambulator. Lynd remarks that very few men below the rank of a philosopher would be capable of such absentmindedness as this man in the story.

1.       What made many people wonder at their fellows’ absentmindedness? Answer- 2^nd paragraph

2.       “There are it must be admitted, some matters in regard to which the memory works with less than its usual perfection” – mention a few instances -  Answer 3^rd paragraph

3.       Chemists make their fortunes out of the medicines people forget to take!” Explain –-3^rd paragraph

4.       What is the commonest form of forgetfulness referred to by Lynd? -   4^th paragraph

5.       “This, it might be thought, must be due to a lack of interest in other people’s letters” – What is Lynd’s remarks on this? – 4^th paragraph

6.       What articles Lynd forget most often? – last sentence of 4^th paragraph

7.       “They had souls above such things!” Who? – last three lines of 5^th paragraph

8.       “Memory, indeed is half the substance of their art” Whose? – 6^th paragraph

9.       What prompts Lynd to believe that the world has not yet begun to produce ideal statesmen?

Answer -  7^th paragraph

10. “How many men below the rank of a philosopher would be capable of such absent-mindedness as this?” What is the absentmindedness referred to here?   - 8^th paragraph

Essay: Describe the different varieties of forgetfulness given by Lynd  OR

           2. What impressions do you get on Lynd and his attitude to life?   

My dear students, please make your own annotations and essays and paragraphs on the basis of this note. Don’t study this note blindly without any preparations. Wish you all success in you exam.