ENGLISH PROJECT

MYSELF SHUBHAM OF CLASS VIII-C ACKNOWLEDGE THAT THE BOOK“THREE MEN IN A BOAT”WRITTEN BY JEROME K JEROME IS A REAL EXPERIENCE WHICH WAS EXPERIENCED BY AUTHOR AND HIS FRIENDS IN A STAGE OF THEIR LIFE.

I FELT VERY AWESOME WHILE READING THIS BOOK .I HAVE REALLY ENJOYED IT AS IT IS A WONDERFUL NOVEL WITH

LOT OF AMAZING CAUSE MORALS AND EXPERIENCESALSO I HAVE BEEN INSOIRED BY THE CHARACTER OF

JEROME K JEROME .THE STORY HAS, MADE ME FEELTHE REAL CONCEPT OF LEADING A LIFE, FACING SITUATION

AND HANDLING THEM.IAM VERY THANKFUL TO MY ENGLISH TEACHER

MRS A MOHEY MAM FOR GIVING SUCH A KNOWLEDGEFUL PROJECT THAT

MADE ME EMMENSE THOUGTHFULL.

The story begins by introducing George, Harris, Jerome, and Montmorency, a fox terrier. The men are spending an evening in J.'s room, smoking and discussing illnesses from which they fancy they suffer. They conclude that

they are all suffering from 'overwork' and need a holiday. A stay in the country and a sea trip are both considered. The country stay is rejected

because Harris claims that it would be dull, the sea-trip after J. Describes bad experiences of his brother-in-law and a friend on sea trips. The three eventually decide on a boating holiday up the River Thames, from

Kingston upon Thames to Oxford, during which they will camp, notwithstanding more of J's anecdotes about previous mishaps with tents

and camping stoves.They set off the following Saturday. George must go to work that morning (J. Describes George's work as "George goes to sleep at a bank from ten to four each day, except Saturdays, when they wake him up and put him outside at

two"), so J. And Harris make their way to Kingston by train. They cannot find the right train at Waterloo Station (the station's confusing layout was a well-

known theme of Victorian comedy) so they bribe a train driver to take his train to Kingston, where they collect the hired boat and start the journey.

They meet George further up river at Weybridge.

The remainder of the story describes their river journey and the incidents that occur. The book's original purpose as a guidebook is

apparent as Jerome, the narrator, describes passing landmarks and villages such as Hampton Court Palace, Hampton Church,

Magna Carta Island, Monkey Island, and Marlow, and muses on historical associations of these places. However, he frequently

digresses into humorous anecdotes that range from the unreliability of barometers for weather forecasting to the

difficulties encountered when learning to play the Scottish bagpipes. The most frequent topics of J's anecdotes are river pastimes such

as fishing and boating and the difficulties they present to the inexperienced and unwary and to the three men on previous

boating trips.The book includes classic comedy set pieces, such as the story of two drunken men who slide into the same bed in the dark, the

Plaster of Paris trout in chapter 17, and the "Irish stew" in chapter 14 – made by mixing most of the leftovers in the party's food

hamper:

I forget the other ingredients, but I know nothing was wasted; and I remember that, towards the end,

Montmorency, who had evinced great interest in the proceedings throughout, strolled away with an earnest and

thoughtful air, reappearing, a few minutes afterwards, with a dead water-rat in his mouth, which he evidently wished to

present as his contribution to the dinner; whether in a sarcastic spirit, or with a genuine desire to assist, I cannot

say.—Chapter 16

Other memorable sections include chapter 3's description of the author's Uncle Podger creating chaos while hanging a

picture, and chapter 4's discussion of "Advantages of cheese as a travelling companion".

Jim:-J, the narrator, represents a simple middle-class Englishman who is hypochondriac. He believes that he is suffering from innumerable diseases and ailments caused by ‘overwork’. He is a man of decent dressing sense with an inclination towards ‘taste in colors.’ J has a fondness for water and water-related activities like boating, rafting and rowing. He narrates numerous anecdotes, comic set-pieces and funny incidents from his memory that add to the humor in the novel. He finds humor even in the most ordinary and casual things of life.

He has a great love for history and nature which is reflected in his descriptions of the scenic beauty and historical significance of the places that they pass through. He is fond of liveliness and dislikes the ‘dim and chilly’ churchyards and tombs. He is critical towards what is considered a piece of art. According to him, the frivolous scraps of today become the antique pieces of tomorrow. He contemplates on human nature by ridiculing man’s weaknesses. He says “Each person has what he doesn’t want, and other people have what he does want.”J possesses a very funny idea of work. He is a workaholic, as work ‘fascinates’ him. He loves to accumulate work and this has become a passion for him. He prides himself on his art of preservation of work. Yet, he is fair to himself and does not ask for more than his proper share.

Harris:-Harris is a man who is overconfident about almost everything. However, he eventually turns out to be a failure with the things he considers himself to be expert at. Harris’ account of his visit to the Hampton court maze serves as one of the most humorous one in the book. He claims to be a very good cook but eventually messes up the dish and even burns himself. Harris loves music and believes that he is very good at singing comic songs. But the fact is that he messes them up as he forgets the lyrics and confuses the pianist. However, in their discussions on whether to camp out or not, it is Harris who makes a sensible point by counting the difficulties one would face while camping on rainy and stormy nights. According to him, one faces several difficulties as the things that one carries get damp.

George:-The character of George is based on the author’s real life friend, George Win grave. George works at a bank. It is he who comes up with the idea of a boating trip after dismissing the options provided by the other two of taking up a sea-trip and staying at countryside. George joins the other two men on the trip later, up-river at Weybridge. He brings along a banjo and expresses his desire to learn to play it. Later, when George plays the instrument and starts, the three get mournful and the dog howls. George could never get to learn to play a banjo as he was discouraged by his landlady and his neighborhood. He was even barred from playing it for six months. George is quite practical in his approach. At every crucial moment, he comes up with a pragmatic solution.

He comes forth as a sensible person as he suggests not carrying unnecessary items on the boat as it only overloads the boat. Also, he recommends not taking cheese along. But, he is considered to be quite lazy by Harris. According to Harris, George fools about all day and wastes time sitting ‘behind a bit of glass’ in the bank. Later in the novel, when the weather conditions become worse, George does not consider it to be wise to stay back in the boat and offers a sensible solution of boarding a train from Pangbourne.

Montmorency: - unlike the three human characters that are taken from real life, Montmorency is entirely fictional. He represents ‘inner consciousnesses’. According to J, he is an angel too good for this world but is somehow kept back from the mankind. Montmorency is J’s pet dog. He is of a fox-terrier breed and this makes it nearly impossible to train him to be gentler. He is generally of violent nature and is fond of noise and action. He does not take delight in ‘romantic solitude’. It is only he who is not happy with the idea of the boating trip. He feels that there is nothing to do for him on a boat trip as he neither cares for scenery nor smoking. He believes the idea of boating to be a ‘bally foolishness

. ‘Montmorency is keen on being a ‘perfect nuisance’ and to make people go mad at him. His ambition in life is to be ‘sworn at’ and be cursed. He feels proud after achieving such ambitions. He spoils the task of packing as he creates mess by putting his leg into the jam, worrying teaspoons and playing with the lemons. His encounter with the cat named Tom is one of the most amusing episodes in the novel. He could not act violently and surrendered to the gentleness of the cat. Another amusing incident is related to the kettle about which has been curious throughout the trip. But on burning his nose, he regarded it with a mixture of awe, suspicion, and hate.

THIS INCIDENT IS A FUNNY INCIDENT IN WHICH TWO DRUNKEN MAN GOT INTO THE SAME BED IN THE DARK WITHOUT KNOWING IT AT A

COUNTRY IN.THE TWO MEN WERE GEORGE’S FATHER AND JOE

IN THIS INCIDENT GEORGE NARRATED A REAL EXPERIENCE OF HIS FATHER TO HIS FRIEND HARRIS AND JIM.HE TOLD THEM THAT, ONCE HIS

FATHER WAS TRAVELLING WITH ANOTHER FELLOW THROUGH WALES.ONE NIGHT THEY STOPPED AT A LITTLE INN .GEORGE’S FATHER

AND HIS FRIEND WERE TO SLEEP IN THE SAME ROOM, BUT IN DIFFERENT BEDS. THEY TOOK A CANDLE AND WENT UP .THE CANDLE WENT OUT, AND THEY HAD TO BE UNDRESS AND GROPE INTO BED IN

THE DARK.THEY DRESSED UP BUT EACH OTHERS CLOTH THE PANT WERE WRONGLY WEARED, THAT THEY WERE GETTING INTO SEPARATE BEDS

BUT GOT INTO THE SAME BED.ONE SLEPT IN A SIDE LYING WITH HIS FEET ON HIS PILLOW.IT WAS AN EXTRAORIDINARY THING REPLIED

JOE.HE WAS SURED THAT THEREWASA MAN IN HIS BED TOO.GEORGE’S FATHER ASKED WHAT WAS GOING TO DO WITH HIM JOEREPLIED THAT

HE WAS GOING TO CHUK HIM OUT.GEORGE’S FATHER REPLIEDBOLDLY HE HIMSELF WASGOING TO SO THE SAME THING.THEN THE MOST UN

EXPECTEDTHING HAPPENED. THERE WAS A BRIEFSTRUGGLE IN THE DARKNESS.IT WAS TOO HEAVY BUMBS ON THE FLOOR .JOE ASKED HIS FRIEND IF HE GOT HOLD OF THE MAN.WELL TO TELL YOU THE TRUTH

MY MENS CHUKED ME OUT JOE REPLIAD ,SO ‘S AS MINE.IN THIS MANNER BOTH OF THEM SLEPT ON THE FLOOR.

ONCE “JEROME K JEROME” ACCOMPANIED BY TWO OF HIS FRIEND “HARRIS AND GEORGE”AND HIS DOG MONTMORENCY PLANNED A CAMPING TRIP WHERE THEY COULD ENJOY FULLY ALL THE THINGS WERE SET THEY TOOK TOBACCO, DRINKS, MEAT, EGG AS ELL AS CHEESE ON TO THE TRIP, BUT THE STUPID RAIN PLAYED A SPOILSPOT IN THE CAMPING TRIP BECAUSE OF WHICH ALL OF THEM WET THROUGH, ALLTHE THINGS WITH THEM WERE DUMP INTO THE WATER ALSO THEY FACED VERY MUCH DIFFICULTY TO FIX A TENT IN THE RAI. THE EDDIBLES WERE WET SO ONE CANT ENJOY A HEALTHY A FOOD. ONE CANT SMOKE AS THE TABACCO WERE DUMB IN THE WATER. TO SLEEP ALL WET IN THE WET NIGHTS IS A NIGHTMARE .ONE CAN CATH SEVERE COLD IN THE NIGHT. WHAT A HORRIBLE TRIP?

I RECOMMED THE PRESENT BOOK ,BECAUSE IT HAS BEEN DESIGNED TO CATER TO THE NEEDS

OF THE YOUNG LEARNERS.THE PARAPHASING AT THE END OF EACH EPISODE WILL MAKE READERS WELL-APPRISED OF THE TEXT AS IT COVERS THE

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE AUTHOR AND HIS FRIENDS LIFE ALSO READING OF THIS BOOK

READING EASY AND ENHANCE THE VOCABULARY.