Packing

There are four characters in the narrative. Following are the names of the characters:

1. George

2. Harris

3. Jerome (the narrator himself)

4. Montmorency (the dog)

The narrator (Jerome) readily volunteered to do the packing himself as he felt that packing was one among those things he knew more than the other person. He also felt proud of his packing skills and wanted to show them.

When the author volunteered to do the packing by himself, George and Harris promptly accepted his suggestion. George put on a pipe and spread himself over the easy-chair and Harris spread his legs on the table and lit a cigar. Jerome was irritated by their reaction.

Jerome’s real intention was to superintend the work of packing. He wanted to make Harris and George work under his directions. He wished to pinpoint them at every small mistake and at the same time showcasing his skills of proper packing.

Harris instantly reminded Jerome that he had forgotten about packing the boots after the bag was shut and strapped. He deliberately waited for this moment to arrive and did not say anything before in order to sarcastically lift a finger at Jerome and also make fun of his packing skills.

The “horrible idea” that came up in Jerome’s mind a little later was the doubt about whether he had packed his toothbrush or not. He considered it to be a “horrible idea” because his toothbrush was the only thing he could almost never remember while travelling. As a result, most of the times he had to deal with that chaotic situation at the end moment which always haunted him.

Jerome was compelled to conduct a thorough search of the bag by unpacking everything in order to find his toothbrush. He was finally able to find it inside the boot when he tried to check each and every thing one by one while putting them back in the bag.

Jerome had to reopen the packed bag twice due to his inadvertent habit of forgetting about certain things.

In the first instance, he was forced to unpack when the doubtful state of whether he had packed his toothbrush or not arose. Eventually, in the second instance, he was again forced to unpack as soon as he found that he had packed his spectacles in the bag.

George and Harris offered to pack the hampers as they were the only ones left to be packed along with the fact that it was already getting late. They offered to do the rest of the packing with the underlying intention of exhibiting their skills in front of Jerome.

The statements which stand true in the case of George and Harris are as follows:

(i)They started with breaking a cup.

(iii) They squashed a tomato.

(iv) They trod on the butter.

(vi) They put things behind them, and couldn't find them.

(vii) They stepped on things.

(ix) They upset almost everything.

Montmorency was an extremely mischievous dog whose highest ambition in life was to get in the way of everything and eventually get scolded and cursed for his troublesome acts.

He particularly got involved at the places where he was not wanted and became a ‘perfect nuisance’ making people go mad at him and resulting in things being thrown on his head. A dog like him never wanted any encouragement. He was born with such a nature that made him do things do like that.

There are three packers in this story, namely, George, Harris and Jerome. Off the three, Jerome seems to be the best packer because of his orderly arrangement of things. Although he too forgot about the boots and the toothbrush and accidentally packed his spectacles, he managed the packing in a systematic manner without making things turn topsy-turvy.

However, on the other side, George and Harris made a complete mess of everything. The breaking of a cup followed by squashing of the tomato in the strawberry jam and stepping on almost everything; putting things behind themselves and then searching for the same exhibit their reckless behaviour. Moreover, they miserably failed in handling things and the sheer nuisance created by Montmorency throw light on the big blunder they created, being the central theme of this story.

The packing adventure had already gone topsy-turvy due to the chaos created by George and Harris but the entry of Montmorency was responsible for adding fuel to the fire. Montmorency’s highest ambition of poking his nose in places where he was not required and the eventual scolding and cursing were his ‘inborn natural and original sin.’ His blunder of coming and sitting on things ready to be packed along with the instance where he had put his leg in the jar of the jam and then ultimately entering the hamper and killing the lemons which he pretended to be rats throw light on the ways where he could become a ‘perfect nuisance.’

Yes, this story is undoubtedly a humorous one. The central idea of ‘packing’ is not only amusing because of the utter funny business involved but the way the author narrates the story is all the more interesting.

First of all the funny episodes in the story includes the instance where Jerome’s expectations of bossing George and Harris in packing go completely opposite and he is the only one left to work with the other two complacently sitting idle and only pointing him to put the things he forgot.

Secondly, the entire situation where in George and Harris began packing the hampers was not only chaotic but extremely entertaining. Harris’s act of sitting on the butter and then both of them searching every nook and corner for it and eventually finding him at his back was among the funniest elements. In addition to this, the smashing of the pies kept inside by putting heavy things on the top reflected their mindless behaviour.

Thirdly, the entry of Montmorency, the highly mischievous element of all, was the ultimate icing on the cake in the end. His troublesome acts of sitting on things to be packed, the destruction of lemons in the hamper and the act of putting his leg inside the jam were among the most notorious episodes of this story.

Thus, the story presented a good series of humorous incidents time and again.

A Traffic Jam

During power cuts, when traffic lights go off, there is utter chaos at cross roads. Drivers add to the confusion by getting into a row over their right of way, and nearly come to blows. Sometimes passers-by, seeing a few policemen slaving at regulating traffic, step into help. This gives them a feeling of having accomplished something.

You can perform this activity with one of your friends.

First pack all the heavy items, especially the ones you don't need right away. Then keep the less heavy items which are firm and durable. Next spread a layer of a newspaper in order to avoid any kind of damage. Now arrange these things properly. Remember that packing needs systematic organization of things. Do not forget to put all the essential items. Finally strap properly.