Why I Like the Hospital Poem Questions and Answers & Summary

Poem 2 Why I Like the Hospital Questions and Answers

Why I Like the Hospital Poem Summary, Questions and Answers

Why I Like the Hospital Poem Long Answer Questions

Question 1.
Attempt a critical appreciation of the poem Why I Like the Hospital.
Or
Question 2.
Write a note on the theme of the poem Why I Like the Hospital.
Answer:
From Turn Up the Ocean, Hoagland’s Why I Like the Hospital” is a montage of the present day hospitals where depression, anxiety and alienation are the common ailments of the patients. The speaker observes patients of various ages starting from a young girl with bald head to a “crone in her pajamas everywhere he finds a picture of severe depression which shows how complicated is the modern life where sick people are attended like “customer” in the corporate ambience of hospitals.

To begin with, the speaker humorously says that he likes hospital because one need not have to pretend to be in the right mood when actually he isn’t. Hospitals seem to be like a prison where ailing people are in severe depression. For example, a mother with cancer, struggle hard to reveal it to her children. Next, the speaker observes a girl with bald head looking pathetically at the tube installed above her amputated breast.

An ugly old woman is also seen walking with a stand, designed to hold a pouch of medicine or fluid for the patients. Smell of antiseptic hover around the chilled room. The speaker dislikes the pungent smell as well as the chillness of the room which continues all throughout the night. Moreover, the speaker also dislikes the sight of fresh flowers thrown in the wastebasket.

The scene now shifts to the waiting room of a hospital where few people are found sitting on the plastic chairs. The speaker feels deeply amused seeing them taking out their notebook and trying to evaluate their lives on earth. They make two separate columns in their notebook where on the left hand side they write their bad deeds and good deeds on the right hand side.

While the bad deeds are labelledas “Times I Acted like a Fool, the good deeds are labelled as “Times I Acted Like a Saint”. Endless waiting for the visitors is a common picture which the speaker observes inside a hospital. The patients are seen waiting eagerly to meet their visitors for some comforting words. They feel alienated inside the hospital. They are like the lone trees in the middle of the field wondering what has happened to the forest.

Finally, the speaker recalls a patient in lime-green gown, bending over in a chair. He was crying helplessly alone because there is no hope for him to survive. Yet, he was consoling himself saying some final words to himself before he meets with his death. The complete breakdown of patients further lends a menacing situation inside hospitals which however is also the essence of modern living.

Question 3.
Describe the various scenes of human sorrow and suffering that the poet records in his poem, Why I Like the Hospital.
Answer:
Hoagland’s Why I Like the Hospital is a presentation of human sorrow and suffering which the speaker records while on his hospital tour. Starting from a young girl to a man in lime-green gown, Hoagland shows how complicated modern life is where depression seems to be the common picture everywhere. Hospital however is the perfect place where one need not to have pretend to be in right mood when actually is he not. This is evident when Hoagland observes a mother with cancer, struggling hard to reveal it to her children.

Next, he observes a girl with bald head looking pathetically at the tube installed above her amputated breast. Depression plagues her down and she has no words to console herself loosing her breast at an early age. An ugly old woman is also seen walking with a stand, designed to hold a pouch of medicine or fluid for the patients. Smell of antiseptic hover around the chilled room. The speaker dislikes the pungent smell hovering everywhere around the hospital cabin.

The scene now shifts to the waiting room of a hospital where few people are found sitting on the plastic chairs, trying to evaluate their lives on earth. Taking out their notebook, they draw two separate columns where on the left hand side they write their bad deeds and good deeds on the right hand side. While the bad deeds are labelled as “Times I Acted like a Fool, the good deeds are labelled as “Times I Acted Like a Saint”.

Endless waiting for the visitors is also a common picture which the speaker observes inside a hospital. The patients are seen waiting eagerly to meet their visitors for some comforting words. They feel alienated inside the hospital just like modern men in the society who despite being with people around feels deeply estranged everywhere.

The poem finally ends with the pathetic picture of a dying man crying helplessly alone. A sense of terror strikes in our heart when we find him holding his own hand and muttering something he never disclosed even to himself. In other words, the man was saying some final words to himself before he meets with his death. The complete breakdown of the man further lends a menacing situation inside hospitals which however is also the essence of modern living.

Why I Like the Hospital Poem Short Answer Questions

Question 1.
The poet satirises our tendency to remain strong even when we are shattered from within. Describe with close reference to the poem.
Answer:
The poem explores the hospital scenario which appears too pathetic with people around struggling to survive. There are indeed pictures of woe all around and yet we find how the patients are geared up with the motto of courage never to submit or yield. For example, there is a mother with cancer, who tries her best to remain strong for her children’s sake.

The mother however is found struggling to reveal her cancer to her children. Next, there is a girl with bald head looking pathetically at the tube installed above her amputated breast. The girl may be preparing herself to remain strong disregarding the loss she experienced due to her ailment. Moreover, we also find a terminal patient struggling des¬perately hard to remain steady despite knowing that he won’t survive long.

This is indeed a pathetic picture where an individual struggles to console himself despite there is no hope for him to survive. Such attempt strongly defies the speaker’s claim that hospital is a place where one need not have to pretend to be in right mood when actually he is not. After all we can pretend before the world around but not with our own self. Here lies the irony.

Question 2.
Describe at least two scenes from the poem to establish that there is nothing like able in hospital. Why does the poet like hospital when there is nothing appreciable about it?
Answer:
Hoagland explores various scenes of hospital which appears unpleasant all because of the picture of sufferings all around. Right from the beginning till the poem ends we see how patients and visitors are all in panic, striving hard to console themselves despite irreparable loss experienced by them. For example we find a girl with bald head whose breast is amputated. The girl is utterly depressed which is evident when she looks sadly at the tube installed above her amputated breast.

She might be preparing herself to remain strong disregarding the loss she has experienced due to her surgery. Towards the end of the poem we find another picture which leaves a deep impact on us. A terminal patient is found struggling hard to remain steady despite knowing that he won’t survive long.

This is indeed a pathetic picture of an individual’s struggle to remain steady despite no hope to survive. Yet the poet says that he likes hospital when there is nothing appreciable in it. Hoagland might have the intention to satirize the modern life where sick people are attended like “customer” in the corporate ambience of hospitals.

Why I Like the Hospital Poem Multiple Choice Questions (MCQs)

Question 1.
The speaker likes hospital as it grants permission for …………..
a. Hypocrisy
b. Pathos
c. Treatment of diseases
d. Rest
Answer:
b. Pathos

Question 2.
Who are called customers in the poem?
a. Doctors
b. Nurse
c. Technicians
d. Patients
Answer:
d. Patients

Question 3.
The mother in the poem is a patient of …………..
a. Pneumonia
b. Viral fever
c. Cancer
d. Nephritis
Answer:
c. Cancer

Question 4.
The bald girl in the poem had the amputation of her …………..
a. Kidney
b. Right leg
c. Breast
d. Left hand
Answer:
c. Cancer

Question 5.
Which among these does the poet dislike?
a. Silence
b. Pathos
c. People sitting on plastic chairs
d. Smell of antiseptic
Answer:
b. Pathos

Question 6.
What does visitors do taking out their notebook?
a. They write daily expenses
b. They jot down the names of medicines
c. They write their good and bad deeds
d. They make sketches
Answer:
c. They write their good and bad deeds

Question 7.
The terminal patient was wearing a gown of colour…………..
a. Red
b. Blue
c. Lime green
d. White
Answer:
c. Lime green

Question 8.
Which among these following statement is true?
a. The terminal patient was sobbing
b. The terminal patient was speaking to his wife over phone
c. The terminal patient was consoling himself
d. The terminal patient was shouting at the doctors
Answer:
c. The terminal patient was consoling himself

Question 9.
In what sense does the poet use the word ‘like’ in the poem?
a. Humorous
b. Jovial
c. Satirical
d. None of the above
Answer:
c. Satirical

Question 10.
The terminal patient was seen …………..
a. laughing
b. crying
c. shouting
d. sleeping
Answer:
b. crying

Why I Like the Hospital Poem Summary

Why I Like the Hospital Poem Introduction

From Turn Up the Ocean, Hoa gland’s Why I Like the Hospital” is a montage of the present day hospitals where depression, anxiety and alienation are the common ailments of the patients. The speaker observes patients of various ages starting from a young girl with bald head to a “crone in her pajamas”. Everywhere he finds a picture of severe depression which shows how complicated is the modern life where sick people are attended like “customer” in the corporate ambience of hospitals.

Why I Like the Hospital Poem Summary

The speaker humorously says that he likes hospital because one need not have to pretend to be in right mood when actually in bad mood. The eerie silence of the hospital is felt when one walks lazily through the garage in the basement and shares an elevator with the other patients and visitors.

Silence reigns everywhere and it seems as if the speaker is entering a prison while he continues looking at the closed doors of the hospitals. Hospitals allow patients to freely express their emotions. Everywhere around the hospital there are common pictures of sadness and depression. For example, there is a mother with cancer, struggling to reveal it to her children.

Next, there is a girl with bald head looking pathetically at the tube installed above her amputated breast. An ugly old woman is seen walking with a stand, designed to hold a pouch of medicine or fluid for the patients. Smell of antiseptic hover around the chilled room.

The speaker dislikes the pungent smell as well as the chillness of the room which continues all throughout the night. Moreover, the speaker also dislikes the sight of fresh flowers thrown in the wastebasket. “Some people are found sitting on the plastic chairs. The speaker feels amused seeing them taking out their notebook and trying to evaluate their lives on earth.

They make two separate columns in their notebook where on the left hand side they write their bad deeds and good deeds on the right hand side. While the bad deeds are labelled as “Times I Acted like a Fool, the good deeds are labelled as “Times I Acted Like a Saint”. Endless waiting for the visitors amuses the speaker.

The patients are seen waiting endlessly to meet their visitors for some comforting words. They feel alienated inside the hospital. They are like the lone trees in the middle of the field wondering what has happened to the forest. The speaker recalls that once he saw a patient in lime – green gown, bending over in a chair. He was crying helplessly alone because there is no hope for him to survive. Yet, he was consoling himself saying some final words to himself before he meets with his death.

Why I Like the Hospital Poem Paraphrase

Stanza I:

The speaker humorously says that he likes hospital because one need not have to pretend to be in right mood when actually in bad mood. The eerie silence of the hospital is felt when one walks lazily through the garage in the basement and shares an elevator with the other patients and visitors. Silence reigns everywhere and it seems as if the speaker is entering a prison while he continues looking at the closed doors of the hospitals.

Stanza II:

Hospitals allow patients to freely express their emotions which often remain veiled while we are in the society around. We are free to express the deepest sorrows in our heart that weigh us down. Everywhere around the hospital there are common pictures of sadness and depression. The speaker observes how a mother with cancer is struggling to reveal it to her children. Next, there is a girl with bald head looking pathetically at the tube installed above her amputated breast.

Stanza III:

An ugly old woman is seen walking with a stand, designed to hold a pouch of medicine or fluid for the patients. Smell of antiseptic hover around the chilled room. The speaker dislikes the pungent smell as well as the chillness of the room which continues all throughout the night. Moreover, fresh flowers are also seen thrown in the wastebasket.

Stanza IV:

Some people are found sitting on the plastic chairs. The speaker feels amused seeing them taking out their notebook and trying to evaluate their lives on earth. They make two separate columns in their notebook where on the left side they write their bad deeds and good deeds on the right hand side. While the bad deeds are labelled as “Times I Acted like a Fool, the good deeds are labelled as “Times I Acted Like a Saint”.

Stanza V:

Endless waiting for the visitors amuses the speaker. The patients are seen waiting endlessly to meet their visitors for some comforting words. They feel alienated inside the hospital. They are like the lone trees in the middle of a the field wondering what has happened to the forest.

Stanza VI & VII:

The speaker recalls that once he saw a patient in lime-green gown, bending over in a chair. He was neither shouting at the doctors nor pretending to be strong enough to ignore his fatal disease. Moreover, he was not over phone with his wife but crying helplessly alone because there is no hope for him to survive.

Stanza VIII:

A close look at him would clearly show how the man was trying his best to console himself even when he has lost every hope to remain alive. He was holding his own hand and was muttering to himself something he never disclosed even to himself. In other words, the man was saying some final words to himself before he meets with his death.

Why I Like the Hospital Poem Annotations with Comments

Stanza I:

all right : all right to be in bad mood without camouflaging with a plastic smile on face
slouching : moving lazily
wordlessly : silently
elevator : lift
customers : patients are deliberately called customers because medical service has become a profitable business
beige : light greyish-yellowish brown

Stanza II:

grants : allows
pathos : a quality that evokes pity or sadness.
how to tell : how to reveal the bitter truth
bald : having a scalp wholly or partly lacking hair.
Gazing : looking
Shunt : a passage that is made to allow blood or other fluid to move from one part of the body to another.
missing breast : operated breast

Comment:

bald girl gazing downward : Along with the “mother with cancer”, the picture of the bald girl is deeply moving. The girl pathetically stares at the tube installed above her amputated breast. She may be preparing herself to remain strong disregarding the loss she has experienced due to her surgery.

Stanza III:

crone : an ugly old woman
pajama : a loose-fitting jacket and trousers for sleeping in.
IV pole : or intravenous poles, os a medical device designed for hanging bags of medicine or fluid for administration to a patient.
Antiseptic : anti bacterial drug
Tossed : thrown

Stanza IV:

On their …. chairs : seated on the plastic chairs
Break out : bring out
Invent : devise
Complex …. system : (here) try to evaluate the good and bad deed
Tally up : estimate
Times I …. Fool: number of foolish actions performed
Times I…. saint: number of good deeds performed

Stanza V:

Prairie : a large open area of grassland. But here it means endless
Intimacy : closeness
forced intimacy : experience of spending more time with another person than expected
sick person……a tree : the poet uses simile to describe how we feel alienated even when we are surrounded by people. A sick person is compared to a tree which feels alienated despite being the part of a forest.

Stanza VI & VII:

lime-green : yellow green
Hunched : bent
Yelling : shouting
Murmured : indistinct
Sobbing : crying noisily
pumping …. out : emitting
bilge : nonsense
rage : anger

Stanza VIII:

holding his …… sympathy : this is an attempt to console himself
telling himself everything : speaking to himself everything he once hid from his own self.

Comment:

he was telling himself everything: The picture of the terminal patient, struggling desperately hard to remain steady is really a pathetic one. He knows well that he won’t survive long. Yet he tries to console himself despite there is no hope for him to survive. Such attempt strongly defies the speaker’s claim that hospital is a place where one need not have to pretend to be in right mood when actually he is not.

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