INDIAN SCHOOL AL WADI AL KABIR
DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH
CLASS XII QUESTION BANK
Evans Tries an O-Level-Colin Dexter
Oxford Prison was built in 1870. All the cells had windows, and its massive central gallery (A Wing) — three tiers of cells — was brightened by sunlight pouring through three-storey-tall, barred casement windows. In its day, Oxford Prison was considered airy, healthful, and light. But when the prison closed in 1996 it was so overcrowded that prisoners were apportioned three to a cell.Nevertheless, the once-revolutionarydesign qualified parts of the building for coveted protection status. Malmaison, which has earned a reputation for converting unusual city center locations into luxury hotels, was one of the few companies willing totake on a project that involved keeping A Wing virtually intact. The Oxford Prison site closed for redevelopment in 2004 before reopening as a Hotel, Malmaison Oxford.
Summary
· Evans was put in the Oxford Prison at Carfax for his criminal records including the three jail breaks that he had successfully committed. Anyway we do not exactly know what were the charges against him. It is most likely he was the master brain of a gang of robbers or was just a one man robber who was greatly skilled at impersonating other people and thus made an income out of that.
· However, London Police had no other choice than putting him in the most secure Oxford Prison where jail breaks were not at all common.
· Evans was aware of it, too. Seeing that he was in all sense trapped for life, Evans made a new plan to escape and it was very complicated and it involved many people at the same time.
· In the first week in jail, Evans requested the Governor of the jail that he was genuinely interested in learning some German lessons to acquire some academic degrees. Suspicious as he always was, the governor arranged a German tutor for Evans and watched how things proceed. With a microphone hidden in the study room or in his cell where Evans took classes, the governor waited to hear if Evans would ask the tutor to help him.
· It so happened but no one knew how Evans managed to do such a risky thing while the microphone was on. Probably Evans communicated with the tutor through a letter which the latter was asked to read silently.
· At the end of the six months' coaching, the tutor informed the Governor that his student was ready for an ordinary level exam. Suspicious as always, the Governor contacted the examination board and arranged an O'Level exam for Evans. The board contacted St. Mary Mags and requested Rev. Stuart McLeery to go to the prison to invigilate the exam. The parson agreed and began his preparation for the exam.
· On the day of the exam, Rev. Mc Leery was getting ready to go to the prison early in the morning when two of Evans' friends came to visit him. They gagged and tied the parson while one of them dressed himself as him. After half an hour they went out - one of them as Stuart McLeery.
· At the same time, at the prison, officer Jackson and a newly appointed - or specially appointed - officer, Mr. Stephens, were making sure if Evans had any potential weapon to make a jail break during the exam. Evans had put on a bobble hat and hadn't shaved. Inside the hat he had hidden his makeup stuff for his escape plan and he delayed shaving for the smart purpose of keeping its blade with him. Thus, while giving the razor back to Stephens in the most artificial haste, Evans took out its blade. When Jackson ordered him to remove that hat, Evans requested the kind hearted officer Mr. Jackson to let him keep it as he considered the cap to be his lucky charm. Well, Jackson was always like that. He was full of sympathy and the hat was full of what Evans needed for transformation!
· It was already 9am when the invigilator reached the prison. He was shown his way into Evans' cell and the exam was about to start but the Governor felt something... something wrong. He asked Jackson to get the parson frisked. Accordingly it was done and the officers confiscated a pair of scissors that the parson had brought with him - well, it was for Evans. Having done so, they went on frisking and searching till they found that the parson - do not forget that it was Evans' friend who made himself up as the parson - had got a semi inflated rubber tube in his briefcase. On enquiring the reason for which the tube was brought, the parson replied it was a cure for his extremely painful disease of piles. Having made a decent parson disclose a secret in such a shameful manner, the two officers felt embarrassed. They didn't want to search any more. The parson was allowed to resume his seat. The exam began; three men - Evans to write the exam, the parson to invigilate Evans and and Stephens to keep watch.
· At the start of the exam, Evans had to get rid of officer Stephens and get a covering for himself. These he required because he was not going to write any German O'Level exam. He was only going to make himself as the parson who had come to invigilate him! Height for height, beard for beard, dress for dress and accent for accent to create confusion in the prison once the exam was over. By complaining it was extremely cold inside and he was not able to concentrate in his exams because of Stephens, Evans managed to get a blanket for him and get Stephens out of the cell.
· The exam began. The Invigilator remained reading his magazine, Stephens went up and down the corridor, the Governor himself listened to the loud speaker that caught conversations from Evans' cell and Jackson kept a watch of all the rest. Keeping a pen between his lips, Evans observed Stephen's position in the corridor with the help of the shining, bulbous head of the pen. The closer Stephens came, the dimmer was the brightness of the pen-head.
· When just five minutes remained for the examination to get over, Evans and his friend, the invigilator, did all that was part of the plan. Evans trimmed his long hair with a razor blade, put on the extra pair of clerical dress - cassock, front, collar, etc. - that his friend had brought in and glued a fake beard. Just five minutes and then Stephens heard Jackson shouting from the other end of the corridor, informing that the Governor was on the telephone line, wanting to talk to him. Stephens was more than excited. He was feeling proud of himself because the Governor wanted to talk to him!
· Stephens attended the call - well, it was not the Governor who talked to him nor was it Jackson who yelled from the other end! Excitement brings wise men to unforgivable errors. As per the call, Stephens carried out the Governor's orders - took the invigilator from the cell and led him out of the prison and once again returned to Evans' cell to make sure he was really there. Looking through the peep hole, Stephens saw the most unbelieveable sight in his life - the invigilator, not Evans, inside the cell!
Short Answer Questions:
1. Who was James Roderick Evans? Why was he put in the Oxford Prison?
Evans was a smart young man who had a number of amazing skills to fool anyone and escape any prison. He had a gang of friends who used to make money by imitating other people. Because of his smartness in breaking prisons, Evans was sent to the Oxford prison that was thought to be the most secure prison in England.
2. How was Evan's presence in the prison felt by the authorities?
Even though Evans was a prisoner, the whole of the prison seemed to have loved to have him there. He being a smart, tricky, intelligent and the most popular inmate of the prison, even the authorities admired his skills but were worried only about the possibility of his escape. He had many good friends among the prisoners and even the Governor himself was concerned for him.
3. Why did the Governor apply for an examination for Evans?
Evans was a prisoner in the Oxford Prison. He had convinced the authorities that he was genuinely interested in learning German and was tutored for a while. When the tutor announced that Evans was prepared for an O'Level exam, the Governor of the prison applied to the Examination Board for his exam.
4. Who was Mc Leery? What is his role in the story?
Rev. Mc Leery was a parson at St. Mary Mags, a monastery. He was supposed to invigilate Evans's examination at the Oxford Prison. He was about to leave his residence for the prison when two of Evans' friends entered his room and tied and gagged him until Evans had escaped from the prison.
5. Why was Evans particular about keeping his hat on his head during his exam?
Evans wore a bobble hat at the time of his examination. When he was asked to remove that, Evans pleaded to let it stay because he believed it was his lucky charm. In fact he had hidden some of the makeup materials in his hat which was the reason for which he didn't want to remove it.
6. Why did the Governor think of frisking Mc Leery?
Mc Leery was the invigilator of the examination and he was to sit inside Evan's cell while the latter wrote the exam. The Governor had made sure that Evans had been thoroughly frisked and there was nothing to fear about that. But when he thought about the possibility of Mc Leery carrying a paper-knife or that sort, he feared Evans would make use of that and escape by holding the parson his hostage.
7. Why did Mc Leery's expressions change when he was frisked?
While frisking Mc Leery, the prison officers found out a semi-inflated rubber tube in his bag. When he was asked of this, Mc Leery's amiable appearance suddenly changed and he turned shy and embarrassed for having made to admit that he was suffering from piles. In fact this was only an excuse to stop the authorities from asking further questions and to allow him to carry the rubber tube that had some blood inside for the escape drama.
8. What was the intention behind the call from the Examinations Board?
It was one of Evans' friends who made the call from the Examination Board. This call was primarily meant for confirming the beginning time of the exam in order to calculate the end of the exam. The equally important reason behind this call was to misguide the Governor into Hotel Golden Lion to arrest Evans from there and thereby to make the escape altogether safer.
9. The Governor's pride in his little knowledge in German was of great help for Evans to escape. Explain.
The Governor had acquired a little bit of German earlier and was proud of that. On seeing the correction sheet and faintly recognizing the hidden message that would help him to trace the escaped Evans, he became over enthusiastic and decided to track the prisoner with the assistance of another officer. Later when he trapped Evans so ‘smartly,’ the Governor forgot all caution and went high in the sky of his pride and that gave Evans a great opportunity to escape.
10. What had 'Mc Leery' brought with him to the prison to help Evans' escape?
Evans’ friend dressed up like Mc Leery had brought some very useful articles for Evans’ escape. He had worn an extra clerical collar and a clerical front. In his bag he had carried a semi inflated rubber tube filled with blood. He had also carried a pair of paper scissors even though it was frisked by the prison authorities.
11. Why did Evans ask for a blanket while writing the exam?
As part of his escape plan, Evans had to dress up as Mc Leery, the invigilator. To cut his long hair and to dress up, Evans wanted a hiding. Moreover, he had hidden part of the invigilator’s costume under the blanket.
12. How did Stephens feel when he was asked to accompany Mc Leery out of the prison?
Stephens was a new officer at the Oxford Prison and was naturally apprehensive about his duties. He was already glad that he was in charge of the invigilator and the examinee. When he was asked by the Governor to accompany the invigilator out of the prison, Stephens felt greatly flattered and proud of himself.
13. When did the Governor realize that the invigilator was fake?
The Governor had initially assumed that it was Evans who had run out of the prison after hitting the invigilator. But later, when he made call to the Radcliffe Hospital where detective Carter had admitted the invigilator, he was informed that the hospital had not admitted the invigilator. More confused, the Governor searched for the parson at Mary Mags , his residence and confirmed that the parson who had to come as the invigilator had been tied and gagged in his room and the one came as the invigilator was Evans’s accomplice.
14. Why did Evans want the Governor arrest him at Hotel Golden Lion?
Evans’ plan had been one very intelligently crafted. He wanted to make sure that his plan had to amaze everyone and the very smart Governor also had to be overtaken. To do this he wanted the Governor arrest him with his ‘own smartness’ and feel elated, proud and over confident and consequently less careful about keeping Evans under high security.
15. Evans was 'visibly shaken' when he saw the Governor in his room in the hotel. Why was he shaken?
It was part of the escape plan that the Governor had to come to the Golden Lion Hotel to arrest Evans from there and take him to the prison. The purpose was to make the Governor believe that he was really intelligent and efficient and thereby let his confidence go loose. It was because of this that Evans pretended that he was really caught.
16. Why is the Governor called ‘good for a giggle Governor?’
The Governor was in a way intelligent and smart. Though a little late, he was successful in tracing Evans in the Hotel Golden Lion and in arresting him. But little did he know that it was Evans who wanted the Governor to arrest him. Evans raised the Governor’s confidence level sky high and let him fall from such a height of pride. When he caught Evans, the Governor thought that he was the most intelligent prison governor in the world and drove to the prison dreaming of the praises and ranks he would be given for his efficiency as a Governor. But in the prison he would know how he was made a fool by Evans and the world would only giggle at him.