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About Author
H. G. Wells, full Herbert George Wells, (1866-1946) was an English novelist, journalist, sociologist, and historian, best known for such science fiction novels. His first novel, The Time Machine make (1895) was immediately successful, and so he added a series of science fiction novels that revealed him as a writer of marked originality and an immense richness of ideas. His science fiction novels include The Wonderful Visit (1895), The Island of Doctor Moreau (1896), The Invisible Man (1897), The War of the Worlds (1898), The First Men in the Moon (1901), and The Food of the Gods (1904). He also wrote many short stories, which were collected in The Stolen Bacillus (1895), The Plattner Story (1897), and Tales of Space and Time (1899). This story is taken from the collection The Country of the Blind and other Short Stories.
The Treasure in the Forest’ is an threatening adventure story in which two men search for Spanish treasure, letting greed get the better of their awareness. As the story moves ahead to show how power and greed corrupt human beings.
Characters:
(1) Evans
(2) Hooker
(3) Chang hi
Summary
“The Treasure in the Forest” is an ominous (threatening) adventure story written by an English novelist, journalist, sociologist, and historian Herbert George Wells. This story has been taken from the collection ‘The Country of the Blind and Other Short Stories”. This is suspenseful story that has presented the theme of greed and its destructive results. In the story, two Englishmen search for Spanish treasure, letting greed get the better of their awareness. As the story moves ahead to show how power and greed corrupt human beings.
Two Englishmen, Evans and Hooker and a Chinese named Chang hi are the main characters in the story. The story begins with two men, Evans and Hooker, heading in a canoe(a narrow boat with a paddle or paddles) towards a coral island in the heat of the sun. They were in search of the treasure in the forest. Hooker was studying a map which they had stolen from a Chinaman, Chang-hi, whom they murdered during the theft. Both men were close to the island. They could easily see green forest and high mountains ahead. They seemed tired and thirsty due to whole night voyage and excessive heat. They wanted to find a river at first to quench their thirst. They stopped for some time on the sea and looked at the yellow coloured old map. The sketch of the island on the map was so blur due to much folding. Hooker informed Evans about the location pointing his fingers on the map. Hooker told him about beach, forest and mountain. Later he pointed at the three palm trees and confirmed that was the exact location of treasure. Evans wondered to find some marks or dots at the bottom of map which seemed like grass or teeth. But they both didn’t care much about the dots. A bit later Hooker put the map back in his pocket quietly and started paddling. Although he was completely tired and thirsty, he kept on going. Evans was also too tired and sitting in the boat with half eyes closed. He needed urgent rest because he remained awake the whole last night thinking various things in mind. Soon Evans started to dream about the treasure and the Chinese man Chang hi.
In the dream, Evans found both of them in the forest during the night time. Evans and Hooker saw three Chinese men including Chang hi sitting in front of the fire and talking about treasure quietly. They were using English language. Both of them went closer to three Chinese men to hear them. Chang hi said to two Chinese men that he wanted to take out that buried treasure with the help of two Chinese men. Chang hi had called them just for help. Chang hi also disclosed how he got that treasure. He further said that he got the treasure from the Spanish ship when it was crashed while returning from Philippines two hundred years ago. He had got the gold from galleon(a sailing ship) and hid on the island alone. Now he wanted to take out that hidden gold with the help of his two Chinese friends. He had also a map related to the hidden treasure. They both murdered Chang hi pressing his neck and took the map from him. Readers knew how Hooker and Evans got the map from Chang hi from the dream. Then Evans woke up and opened his eyes. He found Hooker shouting saying “Evans, Evans you sleepy fool”.
They were near to the treasure. They found the river and drank water. Hooker told Evans if they found the palm trees they could easily find the treasure. After drinking water, Hooker filled up his bottle with cold water and they started paddling their boat again. They arrived on the beach and got out. Hooker took out a big knife to clear the bushes. Both of them moved ahead cutting thick bushes. Evans didn’t care much about bushes, trees and flowers on the way because he was much concerned about treasure. They reached up to destination carefully. When they saw three palm trees, they ensured that it was the right place they were searching. They found a dead body behind the bushes. Hooker was puzzled because the face of dead man was similar to Chang hi. Evans said that all Chinamen were alike. They guessed that perhaps poisonous snake had killed that Chinaman. Evans found a shovel and a big hole in the ground on the left side of the dead body. Evans jumped into the hole and saw gold ingots there. He took off his coat and put gold ingots on it. When he touched gold, his fingers were troubled with thorn. He pulled the thorn and cleaned the gold. He asked Hooker to help him collecting gold ingots. But Hooker was still puzzled about the dead body thinking that how Chang hi came in the forest whom they had already killed. Evans convinced him that it was not Chang hi’s dead body. Evans said him to go from there because they had found the treasure. Hooker said to bury the dead body but Evans disagreed with him. When they were about to go from there Evans felt pain in his arms and neck. He felt very tired. He couldn’t walk ahead and took rest for few minutes. They both were catching the coat from both side. Evans again got up and started to walk but he couldn’t. He felt sick and tired. His face was full of sweat. He dropped the coat and some gold ingots fell on the ground. He moved near the tree and sat leaning against it. Hooker wanted to help him but Evans denied him coming near. He told Hooker to collect the gold and move.
Hooker became quite worried. There was no one to help him in the forest. He wasn’t able to carry both Evans and gold. He started to pick up gold ingots. As he picked up gold, he felt pain in his finger. He found a thorn on his finger which was about two centimeters long. The thorn was just like a tooth or a piece of glass. Evans also fell on the grass and was crying loudly. Hooker became restless and looked at bushes, trees, flowers, Chinaman’s dead body and Evans. Now he remembered the map. He realized the meaning of the map’s those marks or dots which he (or they) couldn’t understand earlier. Now he understood those marks were the poisonous thorns. The Chinaman was also killed due to those poisonous thorns. He felt pain in his hands, arms and neck. He was unable to move his fingers and walk ahead. He sat down. The forest was silent. He looked at Evans who was motionless. A little wind moved through the trees, A big white flower fell on the ground in front of him. He also started trembling with pain thinking that his death was near.
Understanding the Text
Answer the following questions.
1) Describe the expository scene of the story.
Ans: Here expository scene refers to the place where an incident occurred in the story. The incident happened in the forest which was thick, deep and green with slope hill and different flowers. The forest was close to the beach.
2) What does the map look like and how do Evan and Hooker interpret it?
Ans: The map looks very old like rough paper. It was creased (marked by wrinkles) by much folding. So, the sketch on the map was not clear. Evans interpreted the twisting line as the river and the star as the place. Evans interpreted the dotted line as the way to lagoon (shallow water separated from deeper sea) in the map. But they ignore the bottom dots.
3) How did Evan and Hooker know about the treasure?
Ans: Evan and Hooker went quietly near Chang hi in the forest during the night time. He was discussing in quiet voice about to take out the buried treasure with the help of two Chinese men. He got the treasure from the Spanish ship when it was crashed while returning from Philippines. In this way, Evan and Hooker knew about the treasure by hearing the Chinese men’s conversation.
4) Describe Evan’s dream.
Ans: Evans and Hooker both were tired during their journey. Evans was sitting in the boat with half eyes closed. Soon Evans started to dream about the treasure and the Chinese man, Chang hi. In the dream, Evans found both of them in the forest during the night time. In the dream, they were in the forest and saw a little fire where three Chinese men sat around it and talked in quiet voices in English. Evans went closer and he knew that Chang-hi took the gold from a Spanish galleon after shipwrecked. Then he hid the gold carefully on the island. Now he wanted help to take out the gold back with the help of his two Chinese friends. He had also a map related to the hidden treasure. They both murdered Chang hi pressing his neck and took the map from him. Then Evans woke up and opened his eyes. He found Hooker shouting saying “Evans, Evans you sleepy fool”.
5) What do the two treasure hunters see when they walk towards the island?
Ans: The two treasure hunters see the thick bushes and white flowers when they walk towards the island. They also see the dead body of Chinese man and three palm trees.
6) In what condition did the treasure hunters find the dead man?
Ans: When Evan and Hooker reached the place where the treasure was buried, they saw a dead man. At first the dead man was lying on his face. Evans turned the dead body and ensured that he was Chinaman. The dead man’s neck was puffed and purple and his hands and ankles were swollen.
7) How did the treasure hunters try to carry gold ingots to the canoe?
Ans: The treasure hunters tried to carry gold ingots to the canoe with the help of the coat. Hooker caught one end of the coat’s collar and Hooker caught the collar of coat from other side.
8) How were Evan and Hooker poisoned?
Ans: Evan and Hooker both were poisoned when the thorns of two centimeters long pricked on their fingers.
Reference to the context
1) How do you know the story is set on a tropical island?
Ans: A tropical island is a region that is hot and surrounded by water and an ever-growing jungle of vines (climbing woody plant), trees, and darkness. There are many things in the story which prove that the story is set on a tropical island. While Evans and Hooker were heading to coral island, they were suffered from heat of the sun. Similarly tropical rainforest, open woodlands, grasslands, lakes of fresh water, salt marshes wetland, sloppy hill, thick and green forest, thorny bushes etc. illustrate the readers to know that the story is set on a tropical island.
2) Why do you think Evan and Hooker took such a risk of finding the buried treasure in a desert island? Ans: I think Evan and Hooker took such a risk of finding the buried treasure in a desert island because of the following reasons:
a) They took such a risk due to their greed.
b) They could be rich in the short time.
c) They took the risk to develop the ability to tackle any difficult situations.
d) They could spend sophisticated life.
3) Do you think the narrator of the story is racist? If yes, what made him feel superior to other races?
Ans: A racist is a person who is prejudiced towards a person or people on the basis of their membership of a particular racial or ethnic group. After reading the story, I find the narrator a racist to some extent because the narrator has presented Evans and Hooker as superior to the Chinese men. They killed the Chinaman, Chang hi violently and robbed the map which shows that English man is superior and more powerful than a Chinaman. In the story, the narrator seems to dominate the Chinese men as inferiors. He has addressed the English and Chinese characters in a biased manner.
4) What do you think is the moral of the story?
Ans: I think the moral of the story is greed makes the people selfish and finally leads to the way of destruction. In the story, Hooker and Evans becomes greedy and kill Chang hi being selfish to snatch map; and finally they fall in the ditch of death. The end of greed is always destructive. The next moral of the story is that we should start any work with full preparation. Otherwise, its result is bad like Evans’s and Hooker’s. We must prepare before going anywhere.
Reference beyond the text
1) Interpret the story as a mystery story.
Ans: A mystery story is a story in which strange things happen and many things are not explained. It can be said as a mysterious story due to following reasons:
a) The most mysterious thing is that Evans and Hooker are searching the treasure with the help of map in real situation; but they got that map from Chang hi after killing him in dream. How can the things be real which we get in our dream?
b) They have already killed Chang hi and got map from him. When they see the dead body near treasure, Hooker is claiming that the dead body must be of Chang hi. How can once killed person go to forest again?
c) Both of them are pricked with poisonous thorn and they are about to die. Can the men die just after pricking with thorn?
d) The readers are unknown till the end of the story about either Evans and Hooker die or not after pricking with thorn.
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