Stitch in Time by John Wydham

No.	Page	Question	Answer
STORY SEVEN – Stitch in Time
1	104	The story opens with a description of Mrs Dolderson’s feelings about the scene outside her French windows. How would you describe her mood about this scene? a) Sentimental b) Callous c) Overwhelmed d) Spiteful e) Humorous	The answer is a. Mrs Dolderson is sentimental about the scene outside of her French windows.
2	104	What is meant by the ‘bonk-bonk’ from the tennis court?	This is meant to be the sound of the tennis ball being hit by tennis rackets and going backwards and forward, so ‘bonk-bonk’.
3	105	True or false: “Mrs Dolderson has never lived anywhere other than one house.”	This is false, for although it seems as though she has never left, Wyndham writes that Mrs Dolderson “came back to the house after her father died” which must mean that she has lived somewhere else before.
4	105	True or false: “The entire house is occupied by Mrs. Dolderson”	This is false. Mrs.Dolderson occupies four rooms on the south side. The rest of the house is a hostel which houses around twenty young people.
5	106	Mrs.Dolderson is in conversation with her son, Harold, where she tries her best not to let her old age get to her. They have a conversation about something. What is meant when Wyndham writes about Mrs.Dolderson thinking that “in her youth there had been only three”?	Harold is talking to Mrs.Dolderson about dimensions. Mrs.Dolderson is thinking humorously that in her youth there had only been three, so how could there be any more now?
6	106	Who do you think that Jenny is?	Jenny seems to be Mrs.Dolderson’s carer. She clears the table and wheels Mrs.Dolderson around on her wheelchair.
7	107	Mrs.Dolderson ponders over the fact that if she had married Arthur 50 years ago she would have had different children to those that she currently does. Who did she marry instead of Arthur?	She married Colin Dolderson
8	107	Mrs.Dolderson goes into her imagination, thinking about whether Arthur’s children would have been as kind to her or as clever as Harold and Cynthia. Soon after, Wyndham writes that the “afternoon’s drowsiness became irresistible. Mrs.Dolderson did not oppose it.” What is meant by this sentence? a) Mrs.Dolderson did not want to fight the beautiful afternoon weather, so she went for a walk. b) Mrs.Dolderson could not resist the force of the afternoon in making her fall softly asleep. c) Mrs.Dolderson managed to stay awake, despite the will of the afternoon. d) The flowers and the bees of the afternoon were so beautiful that Mrs.Dolderson could do nothing but watch them.	The answer is b.
9	108	What form of punctuation does Wyndham use to make us realise that something strange is happening in terms of time? (Possibly too advanced a question)	Wyndham uses an ellipsis (…) in order to do so.
10	108	Mrs.Dolderson hears the voice of someone that she recognises from a long time again, and she is very confused. What does she evetually think must have happened to her?	She thinks that she must have quietly died.
11	109	What sport had Arthur been recently playing?	Tennis
12	109	Which of these characterizations of the first time Arthur sees Mrs.Dolderson makes the most sense? a) Arthur faintly had absolutely no idea who she was, despite trying to place who she was and where he had seen her. b) Arthur faintly recognised her, and could place who she was and where he had seen her. c) Arthur faintly recognised someone that he may have known, but could not place who she was or where he had seen her.	The answer is c)
13	110	Arthur seems very confused about the presence of Mrs.Dolderson. Do you think that Arthur has been to this location before? How do you know?	Yes, he clearly has. We know this because he is also confused about the fact that the room behind her is ‘sort of half-different’ to what he had expected. Also, Arthur starts by thinking that he has ‘come to the wrong’ place but realises that this cannot be true

14	111	What can we infer is Mrs.Dolderson’s first name?	It must be Thelma. It seems that we have gone back in the time to that day when Arthur was supposed to be meeting Mrs.Dolderson.
15	112	Arthur thinks that he has gone mad because everything has changed. New houses have appeared, rooms have changed in Mrs.Dolderson’s house, colours have changed. What do you think has happened?	Arthur has leapt forward in time.
16	113	Arthur continues to be very confused about what has happened. The sound of aeroplanes had completely changed. Mrs.Dolderson realises that there must have been a change in dimension, and she worries that Arthur will be ‘going out of his mind’. What does this mean, and what does Mrs. Dolderson do to try to solve this?	She is worried that Arthur is going insane. So she decides to give him some alcohol to make him slightly drunk.
17	114	What is the date and year at which Arthur thinks he is meeting Mrs.Dolderson? Write this in DAY/MONTH/YEAR format.	It is 27/06/1913
18	114	What sign might Wyndham be giving us that Mrs.Dolderson is still in love with Arthur at this moment?	Wyndham writes that Mrs.Dolderson’s “heart ached for him”. This is a metaphor for wanting to be with someone very badly, often due to love.
19	115	How many years have elapsed between the time that Arthur thinks he is meeting Mrs.Dolderson, and the time that he is actually meeting her?	It is the 1/7/1963, so 50 years have elapsed.
20	116/117	Arthur realises that Mrs.Dolderson is Thelma after seeing the date on the newspaper. He realises that he has gone forward in time and is completely overwhelmed. He begins to cry, and Thelma strokes his hair. Somehow, however, Thelma Dolderson wakes up with her son present. How did this happen?	Thelma had called Jenny, the carer, by pressing the bell. Jenny found her having fainted and took her to bed.
21	117	How did Arthur calm down?	A doctor, doctor Sole, injected a tranquilizer into Arthur, which made him quiten down.
22	118	Arthur insists on going back in time to where had come from, but Harold cannot promise to him that this will work. They decide to take the risk. Where does Arthur have to go in order to try to send him back in time?	He has to go to the same place that he was standing when he went forward in time. This was the path by Thelma’s room.
23	119	At the end of the story, Thelma Dolderson is insistent that Arthur did get sent back in time. Give two pieces of evidence that show she is right.	1. Thelma can remember Arthur Waring being awarded a D.S.O after 1913. 2. Her daughter, Cynthia, is engaged to marry the son of Arthur himself!
24	119	Now that you know the full story, why do you think that Arthur never showed up to see the young Thelma?	Arthur never showed up because it would seem that on that very same day when he was supposed to meet the young Thelma, he was sent forward in time!