But the thought of laughter only made me feel troubled and lonely | Why did the narrator feel so?

“But the thought of laughter only made me feel troubled and lonely.”— Why did the narrator feel so? Class 12 | English (The Eyes Have It) 6 Marks

Ans:

The narrator in the short story ‘The Eyes Have It written by Ruskin Bond thought that he should laugh for the girl when she asked him why he was so serious. At the same time another thought that came into his mind was that his laughter would stimulate his cordial feelings which would make the pangs of separation from the girl unbearable. He knew that the girl would get down from the train in a while and would forget about this brief meeting of theirs whereas he would treasure this experience for quite sometime. The narrator’s blindness had isolated him from the rest of the world. He knew that the moment the girl would leave him he would be left alone again in his world of loneliness and darkness. The departure of the girl would shut the door to the outer world which opened just momentarily. In such a mental state, the thought of laughter only made him feel troubled and lonely.