The clockmaker's apprentice
An original fiction passage set in the nineteenth century.
At four o'clock, Elias carried the little brass clock from the workbench to the window. Mr Vane had asked him to repair it before the owner returned, and Elias had promised that it would be ready by closing time. He fitted the spring, replaced the cover and wound the key. For a few moments, the clock ticked evenly.
Then, whenever the minute hand reached twelve, there came a faint catch from inside the case. Elias bent close to listen. The sound stopped, and he told himself that a newly fitted part might need time to settle. He placed the clock beneath a cloth while he swept the brass filings from the bench.
Mr Vane came in from the back room. “Does it keep time?” he asked. Elias looked towards the covered clock. “It is running,” he replied. Mr Vane was called to the door by a customer, and Elias took the clock out again. He loosened one screw and tightened another. The catch became louder. He put the clock beneath the cloth once more, although its ticking could still be heard.
The owner arrived before the shop was quiet. Mr Vane lifted the cloth and turned the clock in his hands. The minute hand stopped at twelve. Elias felt the mistake he had tried to hide become as plain as the stopped hand. He opened his mouth, but the first words would not come. At last he said, “I have not repaired it.”
Mr Vane did not scold him. He held out the clock and asked Elias to show exactly what he had done. The repair would take longer than Elias had promised, and the owner would have to return another day. As Elias removed the cover, he understood that he had feared the first sentence more than the work itself.
Evaluate the writer's presentation of the difficulty of admitting a mistake after recognising it. Use detailed references to the passage to support your judgement.
In your response, you may wish to consider:
456 exam-style questions on Edexcel GCSE English Language 1.3 Content: prose fiction study requirements, covering 1.3.1 Read challenging prose fiction for the unseen 19th-century extract. Each one has a worked solution and a mark scheme showing where the marks go.