The House Call : Summary and Some Important Questions and Answers

 The House Call

( House call is an occasion when a doctor or other health worker comes to patient's home usually to give treatment .)

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Introduction of the Story : 

The House Call is a supernatural story . In it, we find  the spirit  (ghost) of a little girl going to the house of a doctor for a house call for the treatment of her mother. She brings him to her apartment . Finally the doctor comes to realize that the girl who had called him was in fact the spirit of the girl.

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Main Characters of the Story :

• Dr. Emil Braun, a famous surgeon of Berlin
• Elda , The patient
• Adelheid , Daughter of Elda. Her mother used to call her Heide , in fact the spirit who called the doctor for her mother's treatment.

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Short Summary : 

The main character of this story is the ghost of a little girl, Heide. One December evening, when it was raining lightly, she knocked at the door of Dr. Braun. The doctor was on the dining table trying to take dinner and to write his daily notes. But he was so tired that he dozed off there on the table. 

The doctor's wife opened the door and told her that the doctor could not go because he was too tired. The girl started to request her. Then the doctor became ready and walked with her.

After walking a lot, she finally brought him to the building where they used to live. There she pointed at their room. But, however, she herself didn't go inside.

Inside, he came to the patient. He recognized her. She was Elda and they had worked together in the same hospital. She was suffering from pneumonia. 

Dr. Braun gave her some medicine. He told her how her daughter had come to call and bring him up to there. But the woman said that her only daughter had died just three months ago. 

She also said that she had kept her daughter's shoes and shawl in a corner to remind her of her daughter. When the doctor looked at the direction, he found that they were the same shoes and shawl which the girl was wearing. They were even wet because of walking in the rain. He understood that it was not Heide who had called her, it was her ghost who had come to him.

But he didn't tell about it to the lady. He left the place silently after she had fallen asleep.

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Pointwise Detailed summary :

1. The Tired Dr. Braun : Dr. Emil Braun was a very famous surgeon in a hospital in Berlin. One cold evening at 9.30 pm he returned back from hospital. He was on his dining table . He was trying to take his dinner and to complete his daily notes at the same time. But he was so tired that neither he could take his dinner , nor could he complete his notes. He dozed off on the table.

2. Heide Comes : Suddenly there was a knock at the door. There was a little girl there . She was a little girl of about six or seven. She was wearing a cotton dress and had a ragged shawl.  She wanted to take to take the doctor to her house because her mother was very ill. The doctor's wife said that she would send him the next morning , because he was very tired. But the girl insisted. By that time the doctor came there, and learnt everything.

3. The Doctor Becomes Ready to Go with Her : As he learnt every thing, he became ready to go with her. It was not only cold outside, but it was drizzling also. The girl started to walk ahead and he was following her. But the girl was walking so fast, that he was unable to catch her up. The doctor wanted to ask her some questions about her mother before actually meeting her, but he couldn't do so because she was walking very fast.

4. They Reach Finally : After walking for a long time, finally she brought the doctor at her apartment on the fifth floor. There she indicated him a room where her mother was there, but she herself didn't go inside with the doctor.

5. Elda: The Patient : The doctor found the patient in the room. She was Elda. The doctor recognized her. Previously she used to work in the same hospital. She also became very glad to see Dr. Braun , because in her heart she wanted to be treated by him. She was suffering from pneumonia . He gave her medicine and started to talk with her. It was there that the doctor mentioned that her daughter had called him there.

6. Elda's Reply : Then Elda said that she had no daughter. Her only daughter had passed away three months ago when she became seven years. Elda also said that she had kept the shoes and shawl for the remembrance of her daughter. She even pointed to the corner where she had kept them.

7. The Big Surprise : The doctor looked at the corner where he was pointed at. Now it was a big surprise for the doctor. They were the same shabby shawl and shoes which the girl was wearing while calling him . Not only that ,the shawl and the shoes were wet because of the rain while coming there.

8. Conclusion . Now it was very clear to the doctor that the girl who had called him was not Heide, but it was her soul or ghost which had called him. It was a case of reappearance after death. It is the story of a daughter's love for her mother.

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Some Important Questions and Answers :

Question: 1. If the doctor was too tired to eat or write, why was he not too tired to go to see the sick woman ?

Answer : The doctor was very tired that evening. He was so tired that he could neither eat his dinner nor he could writes notes in his diary. Soon he dozed off. But in spite of that he became ready to with the little girl because he felt it to be his duty to attend a patient if he/or she was too ill and needed him. He was very responsible to his duty.

Question 2. Why do you think the little girl walked ahead of the doctor instead of walking with him ? 

Answer : Several reasons might be given for it. In fact she was a ghost, and not a living being. She knew it also that the doctor might ask her some questions about her mother. But she didn't want to come near him. She was afraid that if by any chance the doctor came to know that she was a ghost he wouldn't have gone with her. To avoid this situation she was walking ahead of the doctor and not with him. 

It might also be said that she was moving faster to lead the doctor as soon as possible to save the life of her mother.

Question 3. What do you think the doctor wanted to ask the girl? Do you think that the girl wanted to answer the questions? Explain.

Answer . The doctor wanted to ask her many questions about her mother meeting her. Perhaps he wanted to know what had happened to the lady, whether she was taking some medicine, was her condition improving or, perhaps for how many days was she suffering, etc.

No, the girl didn't want to give the answer. Very knowingly she was walking faster , ahead of the doctor, only to avoid his questions. At any cost she didn't want to let him know that she was a ghost.

4. Why did the doctor have a look of surprise on his face when Elda told him that her little daughter died in September?

Answer . When Elda told that her only daughter had died , the doctor was surprised because the girl who had come to call him had said that her mother was ill.

Question 5. Do you think it is a good idea to keep reminders of lost loved ones as Elda did? Explain.

Answer. People have different views about it. Some people think it to be good, and some do not think it to be so.

I don't think it to be a good idea. If we keep such things, they would keep us reminding the gone people more and more. So, it is a good idea to give such things to other needy people, instead of keeping them at home.

Question 6. Do you think Elda's hoping and praying had any thing to do with the doctor's coming to see her ?

Answer . Yes, there is a direct link between the two. As Elda wished and prayed, Heide's spirit came to know her mother's wish and accordingly she called Dr. Broun. Otherwise she might have called another doctor. 

Question 7. Write a paragraph describing Dr. Braun.

Answer . Dr. Braun was  head surgeon. He was a middle aged person . As an experienced surgeon  not only he used to do complicated operations, he used to guide junior surgeons also. He was responsible and dutiful to his profession. That night, when he was ready to go with the little girl, his wife asked her not to go, but he said that it was his duty to go if some patient was in need of him. He treated Elda and also comforted her by a sympathetic attitude . 

Question 8. Write about the similarities and differences between the stories "The Loving Mother" and "A House Call".

Answer: Both are supernatural stories. In the first one, the spirit (ghost) of a mother comes to a pharmacist's shop for her baby, and in the second one, the spirit of a little girl comes to a doctor's house to call him for the treatment for her mother. In this way both stories are about love of mother and child. 

Both stories tell us even after their death, spirits visit their near ones. They become restless if their near and dear ones are in trouble. Death is not the end of all relationships.

The only difference is that in one story mother's spirit helps her child, and in the second story the spirit of a little child helps her mother.

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Some Short Questions and their Answers

Question 1. What was the doctor doing when the doorbell rang ?

Answer : That evening he was very tired. He was trying to write notes about the surgery and at the same time he was also trying to take his dinner. But he was so tired that he could not do either , and finally he had dozed on the dinner table when the door bell rang.

Question 2. Who answered the door ?

Answer : The doctor's wife answered the door.

Question 3. Who came to the door asking for the doctor ?

Answer : A thin little girl of about six or seven years came asking for the doctor.

Question 4. Why did the little girl come to the doctor's home ?

Answer : Her mother was seriously ill and she thought she was about to die. So in order to save her mother, the girl came to the doctor's home.

Question 5. Where did the sick woman live ?

Answer : She lived in the poorest part of Berlin.

Question 6: How old was Dr. Braun when this incident took place ?

Answer : He was sixty seven at that time.  

Question 7. What sickness did the woman have ?

Answer : She had pneumonia.

Question 8. Where did Elda live for three years before she returned to Berlin ?

Answer : Before she returned to Berlin, she lived with her brother in the country for three years.

Question 9. What was the girl's name ?

Answer : The girl's name was Adelheid . Her mother called her Heide.

Question 10. What did the mother keep to remind her of her daughter ?

Answer : She kept Heide's shawl and shoes to remind her of her daughter. 

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