The Hour Of Truth (Supplementary)

Unit 3 – Supplementary

The Hour of Truth (Play)

Percival Wilde

Warm Up

a) We judge people around us, based on their qualities and actions. We brand some people as good and some bad.
What qualities, do you think, characterise a gentleman?
Some of them may be merely external and some others internal.

• External: well-dressed, courteous
• Internal: honesty, integrity, kindness

b) When we see a few coins scattered on the ground, we would probably pick them up on the sly or walk away ignoring them.
What if it was an envelope full of ₹2000 bills? How are people likely to react in such a situation?
Discuss with a partner and share your views.

Here is a play which describes a situation where the honesty and uprightness of the protagonist is put to a crucial test. He is compelled by his family members to compromise on his ethical principles.
Let’s find out how he is saved from that crisis.

Characters

• Robert Baldwin – an honest bank employee
• Martha – his wife
• John – their son, 27 years old
• Evie – their daughter
• Mr. Marshall – President of the Third National Bank
• John Gresham – Baldwin’s employer and friend (off-stage)

Setting

A hot and sultry Sunday afternoon.
The Baldwin family is anxiously waiting in their modest parlour for Robert Baldwin to return home.

Scene: At Baldwin’s Cottage

Martha: It’s time he was home.
Evie: Yes, mother.
Martha: I do hope he hasn’t forgotten his umbrella; he has such a habit of leaving it behind him.
Evie: Yes, Mother.
Martha: It might rain. Don’t you think so, Evie?
(Evie nods nervously. A tense pause.)

Evie: (softly) Mother… What does Mr. Gresham want with him? Has he done anything wrong?
Martha: (proudly) Your father? No, Evie.

Evie: Then why did Mr. Gresham send for him?
Martha: He wanted to talk to him.
Evie: What about? Mr. Gresham has been arrested; they’re going to try him tomorrow. What can he want with Father?
Martha: Your father will have to give evidence.

Let’s Understand Better

Martha and Evie hear that Gresham had been arrested on suspicion of committing a fraud in his bank. They are angry and shocked at the news.

Evie: But he’s going to give evidence against Mr. Gresham. Why should Mr. Gresham want to see him?
Martha: I don’t know, Evie. You know, your father doesn’t say much about his business affairs.
I didn’t know there was anything wrong with the Bank until I saw it in the papers. Your father wouldn’t tell me to draw my money out – he thought it wasn’t loyal to Mr. Gresham. I did it of my own accord – against his wishes – when I suspected…

(John enters, smoking a pipe.)

John: Look here, mother, what does Gresham want with the governor?
Martha: I don’t know, John.
John: Didn’t you ask him?
Martha: Yes, I asked him. He didn’t say, John. (anxiously) I don’t think he knew himself.

Let’s Understand Better

After Mr. Gresham’s arrest, Evie and Martha get the news that Donovan, another employee of the bank, has also lost his job.

John: He says the governor must have known. He’ll swear nobody else did. You see, Father was closer to Gresham than anyone else. That puts him in a nice position, doesn’t it?

(Baldwin enters, tired.)

John: Hullo, Dad!
Baldwin: How are you, my boy? (shakes hands) Evie… (kisses her)
John: Well, Dad? Don’t you think it’s about time you told us something?
Baldwin: Told you something? I don’t understand, John.

Let’s Understand Better

Another senior member of the bank, Baldwin, father of John and Evie, and husband of Martha, is however believed to be honest.

Baldwin: It was only a day before the smash-up that I found out what Gresham was doing.
I told him he would have to make good. He said he couldn’t…
I told him he would have to close the bank. He didn’t want to do that.
I made him do it.

(Later, Baldwin reveals Gresham’s offer.)

Baldwin: Today Gresham sent for me. The trial begins in twenty-four hours. I’m the only witness against him.
He asked – you can guess what…
John: (indignantly) He wanted you to lie to save his skin, eh? Wanted you to perjure yourself?
Baldwin: That wouldn’t be necessary, John. He just wanted me to have an attack of poor memory.
If I tell all I know, John Gresham will go to jail – no power on earth can save him.
But if I say, “I don’t remember”, they can’t prove I do.

Let’s Understand Better

In order to tempt Baldwin, Gresham offers him a huge bribe of hundred thousand dollars, but Baldwin doesn’t accept it.

Evie: (hypnotised) He offered you a hundred thousand dollars?
Baldwin: (smiling) I could have had it for the one word ‘Yes’ – or even for nodding my head.

Let’s Understand Better

At this point, Gresham understands that it is impossible to persuade Baldwin to accept the bribe.

(Family pressures mount.)

John: A compliment which cost you a hundred thousand dollars.
Baldwin: A compliment which was worth a hundred thousand dollars.
I’ve never had that much money to spend in my life, John, but if I had, I couldn’t imagine a finer way to spend it.

Let’s Understand Better

John and Evie are tempted by the huge amount of money offered by Gresham. They try to justify Gresham’s act of offering Baldwin a bribe.

Evie: If you go on the stand tomorrow… and they put John Gresham in jail, what will people say?
Baldwin: They will say I have done my duty, Evie, no more and no less.

(Baldwin confronts his family.)

Baldwin: (angrily) Shams! Liars! Hypocrites! Thieves!
And I no better than any of you!
We have seen our souls naked, and they stink to Almighty Heaven!

Let’s Understand Better

Baldwin feels ashamed of the greed of his family. John has the courage to look at him straight in the eye. He compels Baldwin to accept the money offered by Gresham.

(Doorbell rings. Mr. Marshall enters.)

Marshall: Baldwin, if you feel like coming around to the Third National sometime this week, you’ll find a position waiting for you.

Baldwin: (thunderstruck) Do you mean that, Mr. Marshall?
Marshall: I wouldn’t say it if I didn’t.
I was in to see Gresham this afternoon. He told me about the offer he had made you.
But he knew that no amount of money would make you do something you thought wrong.
Baldwin, he paid you the supreme compliment; rather than go to trial with you to testify against him, he confessed.

Let’s Understand Better

Mr. Marshall offers Baldwin a job at his bank, The Third National, thus rewarding him for his uprightness.

(Curtain falls slowly.)

About the Author

Percival Wilde (1887 – 1953) was an American author and playwright.
He wrote novels, short stories and one-act plays. He also authored a textbook on the theatre arts.
Native to New York City, Wilde graduated from Columbia University in 1906, and worked for a time as a banker.
He began writing plays in 1912. Wilde’s plays were especially popular in the Little Theatre Movement.

Percival Wilde chose to portray the values of life in his plays, throwing light on a specific trait of an individual.
His one-act play The Hour of Truth is a testimony to his craftsmanship where the three classical unities of time, place and action are observed.
The climax of the play develops rapidly and ends with a pleasant surprise.

Glossary

• wrecking – ruining, destroying (here, bankruptcy)
• indict – accuse or charge someone for a crime and put on trial
• testify – give evidence as a witness in court
• governor – the way John addresses his father
• smash-up – complete collapse (insolvency)
• perjure – swear falsely
• haggle – argue, disagree
• misappropriate – to take other’s money dishonestly for one’s own use
• nonplussed – confused, puzzled
• baptized – named, christened
• of his own accord – voluntarily, without compulsion
• technicality – a minor detail
• shams – people who cheat others
• hypocrites – people who put on a false appearance, pretenders
• indignantly – angrily
• under a cloud – viewed with suspicion and distrust
• go to grave – to exit the world
• save one’s skin – to protect oneself from difficulty
• make both ends meet – manage one’s expenses within one’s income
• a bolt out of a clear sky – a sudden unexpected event or news
• have the whip hand – to be the most powerful
• apprehension – fear
• buoyantly – cheerfully
• piteously – sympathetically
• reckoned – calculated

1. Rearrange the following sentences in a meaningful sequence and write the summary of the play.

a) Baldwin who returned home after meeting Gresham, informed his family that Gresham had offered a hundred thousand, if he would utter the words ‘I don’t remember’ in court, during the trial.
b) The family members tried to justify Gresham’s act and enticed Baldwin into accepting the money.
c) Thus ‘The Hour of Truth’ had dawned relieving Baldwin of the heavy burden and guilt.
d) Baldwin was an honest and upright man, working under John Gresham, in a bank.
e) To save Baldwin, Mr. Marshall, President of the Third National, visited him and informed him that Gresham had confessed his crime, in order to free him from betraying his trusted friend and testifying painfully against him.
f) Gresham and Baldwin had been thick friends for over 30 years and Baldwin had even named his son after Gresham.
g) Baldwin felt disgusted with himself and the attitude of his family members.
h) Gresham had been arrested for misappropriation of money at the bank and Baldwin was to testify against him.
i) Mr. Marshall also offered Baldwin a job in his Bank, to reward him for his honesty and integrity.
j) The family members who were initially against Gresham, changed their mind on hearing the huge sum offered by him.

Correct Order:
d → f → h → a → j → b → g → e → i → c

2. Answer the following questions in one or two sentences each.

(Answers to be written by students.)

3. Based on your understanding of the play, complete the Graphic Organiser given below.

Author: Percival Wilde
Title: The Hour of Truth
Setting: Baldwin’s cottage, Sunday afternoon
Characters: Robert Baldwin, Martha, John, Evie, Mr. Marshall, John Gresham
Theme: Integrity vs. Temptation
Plot: A honest man is offered a bribe to lie in court; he refuses, and is rewarded for his honesty.
Climax: Gresham confesses to save Baldwin from testifying against him.
Values highlighted: Honesty, Integrity, Loyalty, Moral Courage

4. Answer in a paragraph in about 150 words each.

(To be written by students.)

5. Idioms

Match the idioms under column A with their meanings in column B:

A. Idioms	B. Meanings
save one’s skin	to protect oneself from difficulty
make both ends meet	manage one’s expenses within income
a bolt out of a clear sky	a sudden unexpected event
have the whip hand	to be the most powerful
under a cloud	viewed with suspicion
go to grave	to exit the world

ICT Corner

English Conversation Practice App
Link: English Conversation Practice – Google Play
Steps:
1. Install the app.
2. Choose a category.
3. Select a situation.
4. Listen to the conversation.
5. Take the quiz.
6. Record and check your pronunciation.