Who wrote the story 'A Hero'?

'A Hero' was written by the famous Indian writer R.K. Narayan. It is taken from his well-known book Swami and Friends and features the timid schoolboy Swami.

How did Swami become a hero?

Alone and terrified in the dark, Swami felt something move and believed it was a devil. He hugged it and bit it hard — it turned out to be a notorious burglar. So he became a hero by accident, out of fear, not real courage.

Why is the title 'A Hero' ironic?

It is ironic because Swami is praised as a hero though he is not truly brave. He attacks the burglar only by mistake and out of fear, which is the opposite of real courage.

Lesson 5: A Hero

Q: Why did Swami's father want him to sleep alone?

His father felt it was disgraceful that Swami, a Second Form student, still slept beside his granny like a baby. He wanted to make Swami brave, independent and free from the fear of darkness.

Q: Was Swami really courageous?

No. Swami acted out of sheer terror, mistaking the burglar for a devil. Yet his teacher, headmaster, classmates and the police praised him as a brave hero and a 'true scout'.

Detailed Text · A humorous story by R.K. Narayan

English · Odisha Board Class 9 · Summary + Textbook Q&A + 25 Quiz

📖 Lesson 5 — A Hero (Detailed Text): A delightful, humorous story by R.K. Narayan about a timid schoolboy, Swami, who is forced to sleep alone to prove his courage — and accidentally becomes a ‘hero’ by biting a burglar in the dark! Everything you need — summary, theme, word-meanings and all textbook answers — is here.

A Hero

📝 About the Lesson

‘A Hero’ is a short story by the famous Indian writer R.K. Narayan, taken from his well-known book Swami and Friends. It gently and humorously shows the difference between real courage and accidental bravery. The timid boy Swami, terrified of sleeping alone, attacks what he thinks is a devil in the dark — which turns out to be a burglar — and is hailed as a hero.

👥 Characters

Swami (Swaminathan) — the main character, a timid schoolboy in the Second Form who is afraid of the dark.
Swami's father — strict and firm; he insists that Swami sleep alone to make him brave.
Swami's mother — kind and protective of Swami.
Granny — Swami's grandmother, beside whom he always slept.
The burglar — a notorious house-breaker whom Swami bites in the dark.

📚 Summary

Section I: Swami's father reads out a newspaper report about a village boy who bravely fought a tiger. Swami doubts a mere boy could do this. His father argues that courage is everything — strength and age do not matter — and challenges Swami to prove his courage by sleeping alone that night in the office room. Swami, who always slept beside his granny, is terrified; what began as a challenge soon becomes a firm command.

Section II: Swami tries every excuse to avoid it, but his father makes him sleep alone in the office room, refusing a lamp and allowing only the door to be left open. Swami feels cut off from everyone, pained and angry at his father's strictness, and hates the newspaper for printing the tiger story.

Section III: Alone in the dark, Swami is faint with fear, remembering stories of devils and ghosts. He crouches under the bench and falls asleep, dreaming that a tiger is chasing him. Waking, he feels something moving in the darkness and believes it is a devil come to kill him. In desperation, he crawls out, hugs it tightly and bites it hard — it cries out and falls among the furniture.

Section IV: The ‘devil’ turns out to be a notorious burglar, whom Swami has bitten on the ankle. Next day, congratulations shower on Swami; his teacher, headmaster, classmates and the police praise him as a brave ‘true scout’. But that very night Swami quietly goes back to sleeping beside his granny — and his father, amused, lets him have his way.

💡 Theme / Message

The story humorously contrasts real courage with accidental bravery. Swami is not truly brave — he acts out of sheer terror — yet is celebrated as a hero. It gently teaches that true courage cannot be forced, and that children should be understood with love rather than pushed too hard.

🏷️ Why ‘A Hero’?

The title is ironic (slightly humorous). Swami becomes a ‘hero’ not through real courage but by accident — he bites a burglar only because he mistakes him for a devil and is mad with fear. The title points to this gap between a real hero and a boy who is praised as one.

📖 Glossary (Word Meanings)

Word	Meaning
fixedly	continuously, without looking away
sneered	showed no respect for somebody by the expression on the face
consumptive	a person suffering from tuberculosis
proposition	an idea or a plan of action that is suggested
mumble(d)	to speak in a quiet voice in a way that is not clear
gazing	looking steadily at something for a long time
gloomily	depressingly, sadly
tiptoed	walked on the front part of the foot with heels off the ground
gesticulation	movements of hands and arms to express ideas and feelings
apparition	a strange figure appearing suddenly and thought to be a ghost
laughing-stock	an object of scornful laughter
chum	a friend
humming	making a low continuous sound
armour	special metal clothing soldiers wore to protect their bodies while fighting
crouched	lay on the ground with limbs drawn close to the body in fear
encased	covered something completely
thud	the sound made when a heavy object hits something
shreds	very small pieces
hugged	put the arms around and held tightly

D. Let's understand the text — Textbook Question Answers

1Swami was very much interested in the newspaper report about the brave village boy. What were Swami's views?

Swami did not believe that the brave village lad was a boy. He said the person must have been a very strong, grown-up man, not a boy at all, because he could not imagine how a mere boy could fight a tiger.

2Why did Swami's father want him to sleep alone?

His father felt it was disgraceful that Swami, a Second Form student, still slept beside his granny or mother like a baby. He did not like the way Swami was being brought up and wanted to make him brave, independent and free from fear of the dark — in short, to prove and build Swami's courage.

3How did Swami react to his father's proposal to sleep alone?

Swami was terrified. He had always slept beside his granny, and the very thought kept him trembling. He first hoped his father was joking, tried to change the subject, and then pleaded — to sleep in the hall, to have a lamp burning, and at least to leave the door open. He felt cut off from everyone, pained and angry at what he saw as his father's cruelty.

4How did Swami feel when he was left alone in his father's office at night?

He was faint with fear. As the silence deepened his heart beat faster; he remembered all the stories of devils and ghosts he had heard. The shadows on the wall and the night noises — the ticking clock, rustling leaves, snoring and humming insects — terrified him. He covered himself completely with the blanket as if it were armour, expecting devils to clutch his throat.

5What kind of dreams did he have while he was sleeping there?

He had terrible dreams. A tiger was chasing him; his feet stuck to the ground and would not move; the tiger was at his back and he could hear its claws scratching the ground. He tried to open his eyes but his eyelids would not open, and the frightening dream continued.

6Why did he wake up?

He woke up, using his utmost efforts to open his eyes, because of the frightening dream and a rustling sound in the darkness. He put out his hand to feel his granny's presence as usual, but touched only the wooden leg of the bench — and then saw something moving in the dark.

7What made Swami desperate?

In the darkness he saw something moving down towards him. In his terror he was sure it was the devil that would pull him out and tear him to shreds. Feeling that his end had come, he became desperate.

8What made him attack the burglar?

Swami thought the moving figure was a devil about to kill him. Deciding not to wait to be killed, he crawled out from under the bench as it came near, hugged it with all his might and bit it with his teeth like a weapon — not knowing it was really a burglar.

9Suppose you were asked to describe Swami in a few words — (a) Young, strong and brave (b) Well-behaved and polite (c) Disobedient, disrespectful and naughty (d) Clever but not courageous.

(d) Clever but not courageous. Swami was clever — he went to bed early to avoid his father — but he was not truly courageous, as he was terrified of the dark and attacked the burglar only out of fear, mistaking him for a devil.

10What did Swami dream in the office? (a) The devils came up and clutched at his throat (b) A tiger chased him and he tried hard to escape but couldn't (c) As a devil came nearer he put his arms around it.

(b) A tiger chased him and he tried hard to escape but couldn't.

E. Let's understand the text better

1Discuss how Swami felt being forced to sleep alone.

Swami felt frightened, helpless and cut off from everyone. He had always slept beside his granny, so the idea terrified him. He was pained and angry at his father's strictness, which he felt was cruel, and he dreaded the darkness and the ghosts he imagined.

2How would you feel if you were made to sleep alone in a room? Do you share Swami's feelings?

Yes, to a large extent I share Swami's feelings. Like most children, I too would feel nervous and a little scared the first time I had to sleep alone in a dark room. (This is a personal response — a brave student might instead say they would feel fine and treat it as a chance to grow more independent.)

3How did Swami feel in the darkness?

He was faint with fear. His heart beat fast, he imagined devils and ghosts, and every small noise frightened him. He covered himself completely with the blanket as if it were armour and expected the devils to clutch his throat at any moment.

4Discuss Swami's response to the movement in the darkness.

When he felt something moving in the dark, Swami was sure it was a devil coming to kill him. Rather than wait helplessly, he became desperate, crawled out, hugged the figure tightly and bit it hard with his teeth — which turned out to be a burglar, not a devil.

5Was Swami really courageous? What did people think about him?

No, Swami was not really courageous — he acted out of sheer terror, mistaking the burglar for a devil. But everyone — his classmates, teacher, headmaster, the police and the inspector — thought he was a brave hero and a ‘true scout’, and showered congratulations on him.

6‘Courage is everything, strength and age are not important.’

This was said by Swami's father. He meant that courage matters more than physical strength or age. A man may be as strong as an elephant and yet be a coward, while another who is physically weak can do anything if he has courage. So it is courage, not strength or age, that truly counts.

F & G. New words & language practice — useful for exams.

1F. Rewrite each sentence using the appropriate form of the word in brackets.

1. The proposition suggested by the students was not accepted by the headmaster. (proposition) 2. The child mumbled and her mother couldn't hear. (mumble) 3. My friend sleeps in a separate room because he snores while asleep. (snore) 4. The patient's agonizing condition affected everyone. (agonize) 5. The boy was not prepared and so hesitated to take the examination. (hesitate) 6. The humming of the bee adds charm to the garden. (humming) 7. The surface of my car was scratched due to the accident. (scratch)

2F. Words that work as both noun and verb — use in your own sentences.

Some words from the story can be used as both a noun and a verb: fight, change, turn, look, dream, cry, light, help, snore, scratch. fight — (verb) The boy will fight the tiger. · (noun) He got into a fight. change — (verb) We change our car every two years. · (noun) Any change in the arrangement upset him. dream — (verb) He dreamed of a tiger. · (noun) He had a terrible dream. cry — (verb) The burglar cried in pain. · (noun) There was an agonised cry.

3G. Direct and Indirect (Reported) Speech — note.

When we repeat the exact words of a speaker (inside quotation marks) it is called Direct Speech. When we report the meaning without the exact words, it is called Indirect (Reported) Speech. Example — Direct: He said, “I have lost my pen.” · Indirect: He said that he had lost his pen. From the story — Direct: Father said, “Get up, Swami.” · Indirect: Father told Swami to get up.

4(Long answer) Why is the title ‘A Hero’ said to be ironic?

The title is ironic because Swami is praised as a hero though he is not really brave. He was terrified of the dark and of imaginary devils, and attacked the burglar only by mistake — thinking the man was a devil about to kill him. So he became a ‘hero’ purely by accident, which is the opposite of a real hero who acts with true courage. This gap between what Swami is and what people call him makes the title humorous and ironic.

5(Value-based / HOTS) Was Swami's father right in forcing him to sleep alone? Give your opinion.

Swami's father wanted to make him brave and independent, which is a good aim. But forcing a frightened child to sleep alone, without a lamp, was too harsh and made Swami feel cut off, pained and angry. Courage cannot be forced through fear; children grow braver with patience, understanding and gentle encouragement. So, while his intention was good, his method was not kind or wise.