English LiteratureICSE Class 10 · Chapter 5

The Elevator ICSE Class 10: Summary, Characters and Extract Questions

Updated 14 October 2026 · Fact-checked

The Elevator by William Sleator is a suspense story in Treasure Chest. Martin, a timid boy, fears the old elevator in his building, and his father mocks his fear. A strange fat lady keeps appearing in the elevator. Fleeing her, Martin breaks his leg, and the story ends with him trapped alone with her.

What The Elevator is about

The Elevator by the American writer William Sleator is a short psychological horror story in Treasure Chest. It is told from the point of view of Martin, a nervous boy who lives with his father in a building with a small, dim, shuddering elevator. The story builds suspense through Martin's growing fear of a mysterious fat lady in a green overcoat who keeps appearing in the elevator, and it ends on an open, chilling cliff-hanger.

CISCE has used this story heavily: a Section A MCQ in 2025 and the 2027 specimen ('which of the following does Martin's father NOT do', answer: encourage him to use the stairs; the 2025 examiners noted that many 'overlooked the word NOT'), and a full 16-mark Section C extract question in both papers. Expect parts on why Martin fears the elevator, the description of the fat lady, his father's attitude, how he breaks his leg, and the ending.

Weightage: CISCE publishes no weightage by text. Section A has 16 one-mark MCQs (about 5 on the short stories), and Section C offers two 16-mark prose extract questions; The Elevator supplied one of them in both the 2025 paper and the 2027 specimen.Source: CISCE ICSE 2027 Specimen Question Paper, Literature in English (T27 012); 2025 Analysis of Pupil Performance

The Elevator: summary

In our own words, in the order of the text. Read the NCERT text itself too: the board quotes from it.

Martin lives with his father in a building with an old elevator, and he hates it: it is very small, poorly lit and dirty, its doors close quickly, and it shudders as it moves, so that he feels trapped and fears it will fall. His father has no patience with this fear. He thinks Martin is weak, timid and cowardly, dismisses his worries and expects him to grow up and behave like a man. Martin is ashamed of being afraid and goes on using the elevator.

Then a strange fat lady starts to appear in the elevator. She wears a green overcoat; she has a piggish face, tiny, sharp blue eyes, large fleshy cheeks, no chin and a mass of neck. Martin is terrified of her and feels threatened by her presence, though he cannot explain why, and she keeps appearing in the elevator. Martin feels ashamed: why should he be afraid of an old lady? He gets no sympathy from his father.

In the extract set in the 2025 paper and the 2027 specimen, Martin comes back from school, steps into the elevator hoping it will not stop, but it stops on the third floor and the door begins to slide open. When he finds the lady waiting in the elevator, Martin turns in terror and runs down the stairs instead; the stairs are dark, he misses his footing and falls, and he breaks his leg. Now, on crutches, he can no longer escape by the stairs and must take the elevator.

At the end, Martin rides the elevator with his father, who gets out on the ninth floor, leaving Martin alone. Martin is terrified, knowing he cannot escape on crutches. The fat lady is with him in the elevator; the door closes, she pushes the stop button, smiles and says 'Hello Martin', although they have never met. The story ends there, with Martin trapped, leaving the reader to imagine what happens next. (These details follow the CISCE 2025 and 2027 marking schemes; the story itself is in copyright and is not reproduced here.)

Themes and message

Fear and its power

Martin's fear of the elevator grows into terror of the fat lady. Sleator shows how fear, once it takes hold, colours everything; the reader is never told whether the lady is supernatural or simply strange, which keeps the fear alive.

From the text: Martin's dread each time the door slides open; his flight down the dark stairs.

A lonely child and an unsympathetic parent

Martin's father dismisses his fear and calls him weak; he wants Martin to act like a grown-up. Because he gets no support at home, Martin's fear and shame grow, and he has no one to turn to. The father's attitude indirectly leads to the accident.

From the text: The father dismisses his concerns and tells him to grow up and be brave.

Shame and self-doubt

Martin is ashamed of being afraid, especially of an old lady. His father's opinion of him has become his opinion of himself. The story shows how labels such as 'coward' damage a child's confidence.

From the text: 'He felt ashamed of himself.' (2025 extract)

Suspense and the unknown

The story never explains the lady. Her repeated appearances, her knowing smile and her use of his name at the end create a horror built on what is not said.

From the text: The open, cliff-hanger ending.

Characters

Martin

The boy at the centre of the story.

Timid and anxious: he is afraid of the elevator.
Lacking confidence: his father's contempt makes him doubt himself.
Imaginative and sensitive: he senses menace in the lady.
Lonely: he has no one who takes his fear seriously.

His fear of the elevator, his shame, his flight down the stairs.

Martin's father

Martin's father, who does not take his fear seriously.

Insensitive and dismissive: he brushes aside Martin's fear.
Emotionally distant: he does not listen to his son.
Expects Martin to grow up and behave like 'a man'.
Thinks of Martin as weak, timid and cowardly.

He dismisses Martin's concerns and tells him to grow up; he leaves Martin alone in the elevator.

The fat lady

The mysterious woman in the elevator.

Physically repellent in Martin's eyes
Smiling but sinister
Menacing: she traps Martin in the elevator
Mysterious: she knows Martin's name

Green overcoat, piggish face, tiny sharp blue eyes; she pushes the stop button and greets him by name.

How it is written

Device	Example	Effect
Suspense and foreshadowing	Each ride ends with the door sliding open and the reader waiting to see who will step in.	Builds tension steadily towards the final scene.
Vivid, unflattering description	The lady's piggish face, tiny sharp eyes, fleshy cheeks and no chin.	Makes her grotesque and threatening through Martin's eyes.
Setting as atmosphere	The cramped, dim, dirty, shuddering elevator and the dark stairs.	Creates a claustrophobic, trapped feeling.
Open ending (cliff-hanger)	The story stops as the lady stops the elevator and greets Martin.	Leaves the horror to the reader's imagination.

Key quotations

Short lines worth knowing by heart: who says them, when, and why they matter.

He felt ashamed of himself.
Narrator: Martin returning from school, in the passage set in the 2025 paper.
Shows how his father's view of him as a coward has become Martin's own shame.
But why should he be afraid of an old lady?
Narrator (Martin's thought): Martin returning from school (the 2025 and specimen extract).
Martin argues with his own fear; the question shows how ashamed his father has made him of being afraid.
hoping that it would not stop, but it stopped on the third floor.
Narrator: Martin riding up after school (the same extract).
Builds suspense: the moment the elevator stops and the door slides open is the moment Martin dreads.
Hello Martin
The fat lady: The last moment of the story, as given in the 2027 marking scheme.
She knows his name though they have never met, which makes the cliff-hanger ending chilling.

The Elevator in real life

Each concept, met in an everyday situation. Read the situation, answer the question in your own words, then compare with the model answer. The one-line hook is what to remember.

Taking a child's fear seriously

Suppose your younger cousin is scared of the dark staircase in your building, and the adults laugh and call him a baby.

How might this affect him, and what does The Elevator suggest about better responses?

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution

Mockery adds shame to fear.
He may hide his fear or take risks to avoid it (like Martin on the stairs).
Better: listen, reassure and accompany him.

Answer: Laughing at him makes him ashamed and alone, as Martin was. Listening and helping him face the fear step by step would protect both his safety and his confidence.

Memory hook: A laughed-at fear grows in the dark.

Avoidance can make things worse

Imagine you are afraid of a strict teacher, so you skip her classes; then you fall behind and must face her anyway at the exam.

How is this like Martin's accident?

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution

Martin avoids the elevator by taking the dark stairs.
Avoidance leads to the fall, which forces him into the elevator anyway.

Answer: Running from a fear can create a bigger problem that forces you to face it in worse conditions, as Martin, on crutches, must face the lady with no escape.

Memory hook: Running from the lift led Martin back to the lift.

Labels and self-image

Suppose a coach keeps calling one player 'the weak one', and soon the player starts believing it and playing worse.

Which character does the player resemble, and why?

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution

Martin's father labels him weak and cowardly.
Martin feels ashamed of himself: he has accepted the label.

Answer: Martin. Repeated labels shape how children see themselves; his father's contempt becomes Martin's own shame.

Memory hook: What a parent calls a child, the child may become.

Topics in this chapter

Martin's Fear, His Father and the Open Ending (The Elevator)

How the board asks The Elevator

The question patterns to expect, and the method that works for each.

Question type	How it is asked	Method
Section A MCQ (1 mark)	'Which of the following does Martin's father NOT do when Martin expresses his fear?' (answer: encourage him to use the stairs).	Circle NOT, EXCEPT and similar words before reading the options; the examiners reported many lost this mark by missing 'NOT'.
Extract question (16 marks)	Parts on the lady's description, the elevator, Martin's shame and his father, the broken leg and the ending.	Learn the exact descriptive details (green overcoat, piggish face, tiny sharp blue eyes, fleshy cheeks, no chin); answer 'this' or 'he' questions about the specific moment, not general character.
Personal response	'Give two words to describe the ending'; 'Do you think the lady was real?'	Choose precise words (open-ended, sinister) and justify each from the text.

Tricks to remember The Elevator

Short memory aids. Say each one aloud once, then use it on a question the same day.

The lady in five details: G-P-E-C-C
Green overcoat, Piggish face, Eyes tiny and sharp blue, Cheeks large and fleshy, Chin missing.
Use it when: Description questions.
Lift fears: S-D-D-D-S
Small, Dim, Dirty, Doors close fast, Shudders.
Use it when: Why Martin fears the elevator.
Story spine
Move → Fear → Lady → Stairs → Crutches → Trapped.
Use it when: Sequence and summary.

The Elevator: extract-based questions

Read the extract, answer every part on paper, then open the answers.

Extract 1: Martin returns from school (as set in the 2025 paper and 2027 specimen)

He pressed the button and stepped into the elevator, hoping that it would not stop, but it stopped on the third floor. Martin watched the door slide open …

(1) · 3 marks · Short answer
(i) Who is the 'old lady'? Describe her appearance as Martin sees it.
(2) · 3 marks · Short answer
(ii) Give two reasons why Martin disliked this elevator even before he met the lady. What does his fear tell us about him?
(3) · 3 marks · Short answer
Just before this, Martin feels nervous on returning to the building after school, and then ashamed of being afraid of an old lady. (iii) Why did Martin feel ashamed of himself? How had his father shaped this feeling?
(4) · 3 marks · Short answer
(iv) How did Martin break his leg, and why did this make his situation worse?
(5) · 4 marks · Long answer
(v) Describe the ending of the story. Give two words to describe it and justify one of them.

Show the answersAnswers

She is the strange fat lady Martin had seen in the elevator before. She wore a green overcoat and had a piggish face with tiny, sharp blue eyes, large fleshy cheeks and almost no chin (any three details).
It was small and cramped, poorly lit and dirty, its doors closed quickly and it shuddered as it moved, so he felt trapped and feared it would fall (any two). It shows he is an anxious, insecure boy lacking in confidence.
He was ashamed that he, a boy, should be afraid of an old lady. His father had always treated him as weak and cowardly and told him to grow up and act like a man, so Martin judged himself by his father's contempt.
Trying to avoid the lady, he ran down the dark stairs, missed his footing and fell. On crutches he could no longer use the stairs, so he had to use the elevator and could not run away from her.
Martin's father gets out on the ninth floor, leaving him alone; the lady gets in, stops the elevator, smiles and greets Martin by name, though they have never met. Words: open-ended, horrifying, suspenseful, a cliff-hanger (any two). E.g. 'horrifying': Martin is trapped, unable to run, with someone who seems to know him and to have been waiting for him.

The Elevator: board-level solved questions

Ordered from board level to HOTS. Cover the solution, write your own, then compare step by step.

Example 1: MCQ with NOT · 1 mark · MCQBoard level

Which of the following does Martin's father NOT do when Martin expresses his fear of the elevator?
(a) He dismisses Martin's concerns.
(b) He encourages Martin to use the stairs.
(c) He tells Martin to grow up and be brave.
(d) He ignores Martin's fear.

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution

The father does dismiss, ignore and tell him to grow up.
He never suggests the stairs; he expects Martin to face the elevator.

Answer: (b) He encourages Martin to use the stairs.

Example 2: The father's role · 3 marks · Short answerHOTS / competency

How is Martin's father partly responsible for Martin's accident?

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution

He dismisses Martin's fear and calls him weak.
Martin cannot confide in him or ask for help.
Alone with his fear, Martin flees down the dark stairs and falls.

Answer: By mocking Martin's fears and refusing to take the lady seriously, the father leaves Martin to face his terror alone. Ashamed and unsupported, Martin tries to escape by running down the dark stairs, where he falls and breaks his leg.

Example 3: Building suspense · 3 marks · Short answerHarder board level

How does Sleator build suspense in the story? Give two techniques.

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution

Repetition: the elevator stopping and the door sliding open.
Unexplained menace: the lady is never explained.
Claustrophobic setting: the small, dim elevator.

Answer: He repeats the moment when the elevator stops and the door slides open, so we fear who will enter; and he never explains the lady, so her smile and her knowledge of Martin's name feel sinister. The cramped, dim elevator adds a trapped feeling.

Example 4: Was the lady real? · 4 marks · Long answerHOTS / competency

Do you think the fat lady was real, or a product of Martin's fear? Give two reasons.

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution

Take a stand.
Reason from the text for that stand.
Second reason.

Answer: Either view is accepted with reasons. Real: she acts in the physical world, pushing the stop button and speaking to Martin; and the elevator really does stop for her. Imagined or ambiguous: the story never explains who she is or how she knows his name, and she seems to appear at the moments of his greatest fear, as if his fear had created her.

Example 5: Why the ending is horrifying · 3 marks · Short answerHarder board level

Bring out the element of horror in the ending of the story.

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution

Martin is alone and on crutches: no escape.
The lady stops the elevator: deliberate trapping.
She greets him by name though they have never met: sinister knowledge.

Answer: Martin, alone and on crutches, cannot run. The lady steps in, stops the elevator and smiles, then greets him by name although they have never been introduced. Her knowledge and calm control, and the story's refusal to show what follows, make the ending chilling.

Where the marks are

How a typical answer is marked: the value points the examiner looks for and the marks each earns.

Specimen-type part, 4 marks: Why was Martin nervous when his father got out on the ninth floor? Give two words to describe the ending. (4 marks)

Step	Marks
Martin had broken his leg / was on crutches	1
He could not escape if the lady entered	1
Two suitable words (open-ended, cliff-hanger, horrifying, suspenseful)	2

Where students lose marks in The Elevator

The slips examiners see most often, and what to write instead.

Mistake: Missing 'NOT' in the MCQ
The 2025 examiners reported candidates who 'overlooked the word NOT'.
Do this: Circle negative words in every MCQ stem.
Usually costs: 1 mark.
Mistake: Missing small details
In 2025 a few candidates overlooked details such as 'Martin ran down the stairs/ the stairs were dark and he missed his footing'.
Do this: Learn the story's key details in sequence; quiz yourself on them.
Usually costs: Content marks in 3-mark parts.
Mistake: Describing the father's general character when the question asks about one moment
In 2025 many described the father's character in general; the word 'this' in the question 'was misunderstood, resulting in incorrect or incomplete answers'.
Do this: Find what 'this' refers to in the question and answer about that moment.
Usually costs: Most of the part.
Mistake: Saying the ending is horrifying without explaining how
In 2025 most candidates included the horror element, but 'some could not explain how the story ended'.
Do this: First narrate the ending (alone, lady enters, stops lift, greets him by name), then name the horror.
Usually costs: Up to half the part.

Practice questions on The Elevator

Write each answer on paper first. Open the hint only if you are stuck, and the answer only when you have finished.

Q1 · 3 marks · Short answerBoard level
Describe the elevator in Martin's building and explain how it made him feel.
Hint
Size, light, doors, movement.
Answer
It was very small, poorly lit and dirty; the doors closed quickly and it shuddered as it moved. Martin felt trapped (claustrophobic) and afraid it would fall.
Q2 · 3 marks · Short answerHarder board level
Why was Martin nervous when his father got out of the elevator on the ninth floor?
Hint
His leg.
Answer
He had broken his leg and was on crutches, so he could not escape if the lady entered, and he would now be alone in the elevator.
Q3 · 3 marks · Short answerHarder board level
What kind of relationship do Martin and his father have? Support your answer with two details.
Hint
Listening, support, expectations.
Answer
A distant, unsympathetic one: the father dismisses Martin's fears and tells him to grow up and be a man; he never takes the lady seriously, so Martin cannot confide in him.
Q4 · 4 marks · Long answerHarder board level
Give two words to describe the fat lady and justify each from the story.
Hint
Appearance and behaviour.
Answer
Menacing: at the end she pushes the stop button, trapping Martin, and smiles at him. Mysterious: she keeps appearing in the elevator and knows his name though they have never met.
Q5 · 3 marks · Short answerHOTS / competency
If you were Martin's friend, what advice would you give him, and why?
Hint
Personal response linked to the story.
Answer
For example: tell another trusted adult (a teacher or the building manager) about the lady and ask someone to ride with him; fears shared are smaller, and his father's dismissal shows he needs another source of support.
Q6 · 3 marks · Short answerHOTS / competency
Why does the writer leave the ending open? Is this effective? Give one reason.
Hint
What does the reader do with an open ending?
Answer
He leaves the reader to imagine the worst, which is more frightening than any description. It is effective because the horror lingers after the story ends.
Q7 · 1 mark · MCQBoard level
Which phrase best describes Martin at the start of the story?
(a) brave and adventurous
(b) timid and insecure
(c) rude and careless
(d) cheerful and confident
Hint
His fear and shame.
Answer
(b) timid and insecure

Test your recall

Answer in your head or on paper first, then open the card. Pulling an answer out of memory makes it stick far better than re-reading.

1.Who wrote 'The Elevator'?Show answer
William Sleator.
2.What colour is the lady's overcoat?Show answer
Green.
3.How does Martin break his leg?Show answer
He runs down the dark stairs to avoid the elevator, misses his footing and falls.
4.On which floor does the lift stop in the 2025 extract?Show answer
The third floor.
5.What does the lady do at the end?Show answer
She stops the elevator, smiles and greets Martin by name.

Quick revision checklist

The night before the exam: can you do each of these without looking?

Can you list five details of the lady's appearance?
Can you give three reasons Martin fears the elevator?
Can you explain the father's attitude with two examples?
Can you narrate how Martin breaks his leg?
Can you describe the ending and give two words for it?

The Elevator: frequently asked questions

What happens at the end of The Elevator?

Martin, on crutches and alone after his father gets out on the ninth floor, is joined by the fat lady, who stops the elevator, smiles and greets him by name. The story ends there, on a cliff-hanger.

Why is Martin afraid of the elevator?

It is small, poorly lit and dirty, its doors close quickly and it shudders, so he feels trapped and fears it will fall. Later he also fears the strange lady who rides in it.

How does Martin's father treat his fear?

He dismisses it, thinks Martin is weak and cowardly, and tells him to grow up and behave like a man.

Based on: CISCE ICSE 2027 English syllabus (Paper 2: Literature in English); CISCE ICSE 2027 Appendix I: List of Prescribed Books; CISCE ICSE 2027 Specimen Question Paper and Draft Marking Scheme: Literature in English (English Paper 2); CISCE Analysis of Pupil Performance 2025: Literature in English (examiners' comments)