Question

answer the following questions from fires on the plain

1. what does Tamura say about leaving his wife?

2. where are the soldiers trying to go when they arrive at three fork junction?

3. what does Tamura imagine that the flower says to him?

4. how does Tamura learn the truth about "monkey meat"?

5. how does Tamura kill nagamatsu?

6. How does Tamura describe his left hand?

Answer 1

1. In the chapter Epilogue, Tamura hands his wife the divorce and she receives it without any surprise. Post this, Tamura didn’t care at all. He just conveys to the readers that all men are cannibals and all women are whores. Also, everybody act only according to their own nature.

2. The three fork junction was to the north of Limon on Ormoc Highway. It branches off and leads to the left for the peninsula. The soldiers had planned to march till Palompon.

3. Tamura was so hungry and dejected during his journey. Tamura noticed the flowers falling down and he felt that one flower spoke to him in a woman’s voice and asked him to eat her if he wants to.

4. Tamura meets Nagamatsu and Yasuda during his journey. They inform Tamura that they survived on monkey meat. Nagamatsu goes to hunt more monkeys. During this time, Tamura reveals that he has a grenade to commit suicide. Yasuda steals the grenade and Nagamatsu almost shoots him when Tamura goes in search of him. It is at this point, Tamura realizes the truth about monkey meat.

5. Besides Tamura there are two other characters namely Nagamatsu and Yasuda. In the end of the book, when they head back to their camp, there is an argument between Nagamatsu and Yasuda regarding fetching water from the only source of water available. Yasuda is asked to go to fetch the water. At that time he is shot and killed by opponent troops. Nagamatsu butchers Yasuda body for meat. Tamura on seeing this shoots Nagamatsu.

6. Tamura in ‘the fowls of the air’, describes that his left hand part soared into sky with heron. He also felt that one half had left him and he could no longer pray and also his right side was not under his control. The right side was free to act as it wished.