Introduction
What follows is a tale written by Mark Twain. The protagonist in this piece is unable to replace his broken watch. The author made an effort to get his watch fixed. The author’s love for his wristwatch lies at the heart of this tale. He’s doing his best to repair his broken watch. And the author also recalls his uncle’s feedback.
The Watch
Summary
The narrative that follows begins with the author’s love for his watch. After 18 months of use, the author reports that his watch is still in pristine condition. He had come to rely on that watch, and he was pleased with how dependable it was. The author accidentally left the watch running one night, and everything went downhill from there. A day later, the timepiece stopped working. The writer had a panic attack. He guessed at the time and the watch slowed down afterward. Since he had lost track of time and was feeling quite down, the author visited a jeweller to have his watch adjusted. The master jeweller gave it a once-over and accidentally pushed the timepiece’s regulator, speeding up its already rapid ticking. The jewellery had sparked a great deal of ire in the author. He took it to a different watchmaker, who held it for a week and still couldn’t fix it. A rage engulfed the author, and he lashed out angrily at the jeweller. The watch’s condition has deteriorated further. The clock was running slowly.
The writer took the watch to a watchmaker for a second opinion, and this time the repair would take three days. Even after the author spent three days alone in the wilderness, the watch he brought home was broken. The watch would run for a while, pause for a while, and then start running again. The author was annoyed that despite spending hundreds on repairs, the watch still malfunctioned. The problem could not be fixed by any of the watchmakers.
The author sought the help of a grizzled old watchmaker who was actually a mediocre riverboat mechanic. He advised that a monkey wrench be used for your steaming watch. A good horse was a good horse until the day he went away, and a good watch was a good watch until the day the repairmen had a chance with it, the author recalled his uncle saying at the same time. He knew that none of the tinkerers were experts in their field. He abandoned the plan to get the watch serviced.
Textbook Question and Answers
1. What was the importance of the watch to the author?
Ans: The watch was very important to the author because it had told him the perfect time for the last 19 months and the author had become punctual in his work. Once the watch ran down it put the author in trouble.
2. What were the attempts made by the author to get his watch repaired?
Ans: The author attempted multiple times to fix his watch. He first takes the watch to a jewellery shop, where the owner pushed the regulator of the watch a bit too hard and worsened the condition. He then took the watch to a watchmaker. He kept the watch for a week and even could not repair it. He again gave the watch to another watchmaker and he kept the watch for 3 days and could not fix it. The author had lost thousands of dollars in repair and could not get the watch working and at last, he gave up.
3. Why did the author finally give up on his watch?
Ans: The author gave up on his watch because he had already spent thousands of dollars on the repair of the watch and could not get the watch running again. So, he decided to give up.
4. What was Uncle Williams’ comment on the ‘tinkerers’ of the world?
Ans: All the attempts by the author to get his watch fixed failed. He then remembered uncle Williams’ comment that “a horse was a good horse until it had run away once, a watch was a good watch until the repairers got a chance at it”. Uncle William also commented that these tinkerers always become the jack of all spades but masters of none. All the unsuccessful tinkerers are not specialists.
Important Extra Questions
1. What was the attitude of the chief jeweller?
Ans: The attitude of the chief jeweller was something that the author did not like. It was over confident and because of his attitude he pushed the regulator of the watch too hard which worsened the condition of the watch and made it fast.
2. Did the author send sentimental values with the watch?
Ans: The author had sentimental values for the watch because it had told him the perfect time for the last 18 months and never had once failed to do so. The author grew dependent on that watch and agreed with the time shown by the watch blindly.
3. Did the watch ever get repaired?
Ans: After spending thousands of dollars and consulting many watchmakers the watch was still not repaired. The author lost hope and moved on.