Essay Questions

What is the central theme in the short story 'They Were Made to be Together'?

Love emerges as the major theme in this story because, despite the hurdles, Plato chooses to date a girl from the brook's other side. Both Plato and the girl live in different places that are surrounded by water with no access routes. However, the hurdles do not prevent the love between the blossoming. The girl invites Plato to her home, assuring him that she will be alone during the night because her parents are going out till the next day. The girl wants Plato to have sex with him because she has completely fallen in love with him. Plato is thinking of marrying this girl because he feels that she is the only one created for him.

What is the significance of the title ‘The Mirror Maker’?

The 'Mirror Maker' is a story among the many collections by Primo Levi, which notifies the reader that nothing is impossible. The main character in this story, Timoteo, proves that extraordinary innovation can be attained from the ordinary things that we see and use every day. Besides hailing from a generation of mirror makers, Timoteo hoists the mirror making technology to unimaginable levels. Timoteo comes up with ‘Metamir' incomparable merchandise. Metamir is attached to an individual's forehead to aid the one wearing it read the minds of those reflected on it. The invention is an incredible technology invented from ordinary things implying that there is nothing impossible on earth.

According to the author in the short essay titled 'Hatching the Cobra', what are the evils of scientific inventions?

The title 'Hatching the Cobra' is figurative because it represents the evils of scientific inventions. Science is good, and it results in innovations that make life easier for men, but it is also explosive to humans. For instance, scientists are in the front line to manufacture improvised weapons, which can be destructive. Hatching the cobra represents the venom of scientific weaponry that can destroy the world within minutes.