ENGLISH LITERATURE (CBSE/UGC NET)

Detailed explanation-1: -Maria is poor and relatively forsaken. She is in thrall to the Roman Catholic Church (setting her alarm an hour earlier than usual so that she can attend All Saints’ Day Mass the next morning), and she loses her gift while distracted by a “colonel-looking gentleman” who might represent England.

Detailed explanation-2: -On a tram, Maria has a bashful encounter with an elderly and drunken man who chats with her. She is welcomed warmly at the house by Joe’s family, but she is saddened and ashamed to realize that she has left the plumcake she bought for Joe and his wife on the tram, probably due to “flirting” with the elderly man.

Detailed explanation-3: -The title “Clay” draws attention to Maria’s fateful selection of clay in the Halloween game and applies that symbolism of early death to the story as a whole.

Detailed explanation-4: -Maria, the protagonist of “Clay, ” is an unmarried middle-aged woman working at a laundry in Dublin. While she is well-liked at work and known as a “peace-maker, ” her interactions with others are superficial and even painful, as she is often mocked for being unmarried.