Candidates were expected to discuss the plight of the masses as presented in the poem.
Candidates’ answers must identify the two categories of people presented in the poem i.e. the rulers and the ruled. The rulers or politicians have everything and are indifferent to the problems of the masses. The suffering of the masses is graphically portrayed in the poem. They are unprotected “shivering in their emaciated bones”. They lack substance as rice fields are “putrid marshlands” and mere shadows of their glorious past.
The poet’s anger and helplessness in ameliorating the suffering of the masses and his subsequent call for a revolution against the leaders or rulers must also be touched by candidates.
However, other candidates merely discussed the general problems of the masses in the society. The question was fairly attempted by candidates.
