The Chapter “We’re not afraid to die if We can all together” from NCERT Hornbill, the CBSE board. Below you can find Questions and Answers.
Short Question Answers
Ans. First, we must not lose our temper in such situations. The narrator took the right decisions by being calm to save himself from the storm. We have to try our best as the narrator did. We do not have to forget that there is always a solution to the problem and we have to find that so in such a difficult situation we must have faith in ourselves.
Ans. Most people who are optimistic and have faith in god undertake such adventurous expeditions in spite of the risk involved. The person who has such qualities help them to face every type of problem. Their courage, bravery can only beat death. Every person lives a normal and simple life. But there are some who want to live an adventurous life. They want to do differently in life.
Ans. The narrator planned to do duplicate the round the world voyage made 200 years earlier by Captain James Cook. For the past 6 years, they had spent all their leisure time honing their seafaring skills in British waters.
Ans. The boat name was Wavewalker. It was 23 meter, 30-ton wooden-hulled beauty which had been professionally built. They had spent months fitting it out and testing it in the roughest weather they could find.
Ans. The narrator, a 37-year-old businessman with his wife Mary, son Jonathan 6, daughter Suzanne, 7 begin his voyage in July 1976.
Ans. Before heading east the narrator took two crewmen. American Harry Vigil and Swiss Herb Seigler to help them tackle the world’s roughest seas, the southern Indian Ocean.
Ans. On their second day out of Cape Town, they began to encounter strong gales.
The gales did not worry them but the size of the waves was alarming and it was u to 15 meters as high as their main mast.
Ans. On January 2, the waves were gigantic. As the ship rose to the top of each wave they could see endless enormous seas rolling towards them and the screaming of the wind and spray was painful to the ears.
Ans. The steps were taken by the captain to protect the ship when rough weather began. He stowed the boat down by dropping the storm jib and lashed a heavy mooring rope in a loop across the stern. Then they double lashed everything, went through their life raft drill, attached lifelines, donned oilskins and life jackets and waited.
Ans. A torrent of green and white water broke over the ship, his head smashed into the wheel and he was aware of flying overboard and sinking below the waves. His left ribs cracked and his mouth filled with blood and broken teeth. A tremendous explosion shook the deck and water-filled inside the boat, the Wavewalker was capsizing and her masts almost horizontal.
Ans. The hand pump blocked due to the debris floating around the cabins and the electric pump short-circuited. The water level rose threateningly and the waves had also carried away the spare handpumps, forestay sail, the jib, the dinghies and the main anchor.
Ans. They were not getting any replies in their Mayday calls because at that time they were in the remotest part of the world.
Ans. The narrator searched for an island eagerly because the main rib frames of the Wavewalker were smashed down to the wheel and it was not in the condition to reach Australia.
Ans. On January 4 after 36 hours of continuous pumping, they reached the last few centimetres of water and they felt relaxed. They had their first meal in almost two days. Their respite was short-lived. They faced a dangerous situation on January 5. Both narrator and his wife were tired and almost lost all their hopes to remain alive. They were going through severe mental stress.
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We’re not afraid to die: Long Question Answers
Question 1. What difference did you notice between the reaction of the adults and the children when faced with danger?
Ans. There was a lot of difference between the way in which the adults and the children reacted when faced with danger the adults felt the stress of the circumstance but prepared themselves to face the danger. Larry and Herb were continuously pumping out the water and the narrator did all the repair work that was urgently needed. The children suffered a lot. Sue had a big bump over her eyes and a deep cut on her arm but still, she did not say anything to her parents because she could see that her father was trying to save them all and she did not want to bother him. John acted courageously and boosted the morale of his father by saying that he was not afraid to die. On 5th January when the narrator and his wife lost all the hopes of survival and became depressed, Sue gave him a cheerful card in which she had drawn the caricatures of her parents and inside the card, there was a message to hope for the best. After this, the narrator became much more determined to save their lives.
Question 2. How does the story suggest that optimism helps to endure “the direst stress”?
Ans. The story suggests that optimism certainly helps to endure the direst stress. The behaviour of the four adults during crisis bears it out. Right from the evening of second January Larry and Herb started pumping out water. They worked continuously, excitedly and cheerfully for 36 hours. They remained optimistic while facing an extremely dangerous situation. The narrator did not lose his courage, hope and presence of mind while facing problems. He did not worry about the loss of equipment. He used whatever was available there. His self-confidence and practical knowledge helped them to steer out and reach Amsterdam. Mary also did not lose hope and courage and stayed at the wheel for all those crucial hours.