Snapshots#The Address#class XI

 

Word Meaning

Chink – narrow opening

Fleetingly – for a short time 

Musty – stale 

Enamel – an opaque or semi-transparent substance that is a type of glass

Jamb – side post of a window, fireplace or doorway

Acquaintance – stranger or social contact 

Lugging – carry a heavy object with great effort

Pityingly – feeling sorrow

Crick – cramp or spasm in muscles 

Reprovingly – critically showing disapproval 

Beckoned – signaled 

Liberation – Liberty or Freeing someone/something 

Endured – suffered

Vain – hopeless 

Hanukkah – The Feast of Lights, a Hebrew festival in December

Cumbersome – unmanageable

Midst – middle

Muggy – humid, unpleasantly hot 

Pewter plate – plate made of a gray alloy of tin

Jingling – ringing

Summary

The story is about the human predicament that follows the pre-War and Post-War period. 

Mrs. S who was a Jews was a rich lady whereas, Mrs. Dorling was a non-Jews. The girl, 

daughter of Mrs. S, had lost her house and her mother during the war and now she had 

decided to come back to take her possessions from Mrs. Dorling, an acquaintance whose 

address was given by her mother years ago. When she reached the house, the woman 

treated her with a cold reception and didn’t let her into the house. She decided to go 

back anyway and then she met her daughter who let her in and told her to wait inside. 

When she saw all the possessions in front of her, she couldn’t connect with them and 

decided to leave the house for good and move ahead in life. 

A. Reading With Insight

Question 1:

‘Have you come back?’ said the woman, ‘I thought that no one had come back.’ Does this statement give some clue about the story? If yes, 

what is it?

Answer:

Yes, this statement gives some clue about the story. During the early part of the war Mrs. Dorling had shifted the important belongings of her 

acquaintance Mrs. S. from her house to 46, Marconi Street. These included table silver wares, antique plates and other nice things such as 

the iron Hanukkah candle-holder, woolen table cloth and green knitted cardigan with wooden buttons. Since Mrs. S. had died during the war, 

Mrs. Dorling did not expect anyone to come back and claim her costly belongings as she thought no one else knew her address.

The statement indicates the greedy andEven when she told Mrs. Dorling that only she had come back, the woman with the broad back did not soften a bit. Thus the clash of 

interests is hinted at by the aforesaid statement.

Question 2:

The story is divided into pre-war and post-war times. What hardships do you think the girl underwent during these times?

Answer:

During the pre-war times, the narrator lived in some other city away from home and she visited her mother only for a few days. She became 

very upset when she asked her mother about the missing articles from home. Mother told her that one Mrs. Dorling was taking the household 

things for safe keeping during their absence. It was more shocking for the girl to know that mother had made no agreement with Mrs. Dorling 

keeping and later returning the things.

During the first half of the war the narrator’s mother was always afraid that they might have to leave the place and lose all valuable 

belongings. The narrator lived in the city in a small rented room. Its windows were covered with blackout paper. She could not see the beauty 

of nature outside her room. The threat of death loomed large.

After the liberation, everything became normal again. Bread was getting to be a lighter colour. She could sleep in her bed without any fear of 

death. She could glance out of the window of her room each day. One day, she was eager to see all the possessions of her mother, which 

she knew were stored at number 46, Marconi Street. She went to that address. She felt disappointed when Mrs Dorling neither recognised 

her nor let her in. She asked her to come again someday. It was evident she wanted to put her off. She was eager to see, touch and 

remember her mother’s possessions. So, she had to take the trouble of visiting the place again.

Question 3:

Why did the narrator of the story want to forget the address?

Answer:

The narrator remembered the address her mother had told her only once. It was number 46, Marconi Street. Her mother’s acquaintance Mrs

Dorling lived there. She had stored the valuable belongings of the narrator’s mother there. After her mother’s death, the narrator had an urge 

to visit the place. She wanted to see those things, touch them and remember. She went to the given address twice. She was successful in 

her second attempt to enter the living room. .

She found herself in the midst of things she wanted to see again. She felt oppressed in the strange atmosphere. Everything was arranged in 

a tasteless way. The ugly furniture and the muggy smell that hung there seemed quite unpleasant. These objects evoked the memory of the 

familiar life of former time. But they had lost their value since they had been separated from her mother and stored in strange surroundings. 

She no longer wanted to see, touch or remember these belongings. She resolved to forget the address. She wanted to leave the past behind 

and decided to move on.

Question 4:

‘The Address’ is a story of human predicament that follows war. Comment.

Answer:

The war creates many difficult and unpleasant situations for human beings. Sometime it becomes difficult to know what to do. The human 

predicament that follows war is amply illustrated through the experience of the narrator. The war had caused many physical difficulties as 

well as emotional sufferings to her. She had lost her dear mother. She went to 46, Marconi Street to see her mother’s valuable possessions. 

How greedy and callous human beings can become is exemplified by the behaviour of Mrs Dorling. She had stored all the valuable 

belongings of the narrator’s mother, but she refused to recognise the narrator. She did not even let her in. The presence of her mother’s 

possessions in strange atmosphere pained her. Now these valuables had lost all their importance for her as they had been separated from 

her mother. She could get no solace or comfort from them.

MORE QUESTIONS SOLVED

A. Short Answer Type Questions

Question 1:

How did Mrs Dorling react when the narrator said, m Mrs S’s daughter”?

Answer:

Mrs Dorling held her hand on the door as if she wanted to prevent it opening any

further. Her face showed no sign of recognition. She kept staring at the narrator without uttering a word.

Question 2:

What two reasons did the narrator give to explain that she was mistaken?

Answer:

She thought that perhaps the woman was not Mrs Dorling. She had seen her only once, for a brief interval and that too years ago. Secondly, 

it was probable that she had rung the wrong bell.

Question 3:

How did the narrator conclude that she was right?

Answer: The woman was wearing the green knitted cardigan of the narrator’s mother. The wooden buttons were rather pale from washing. 

She saw that the narrator was looking at the cardigan. She half hid herself again behind the door. Her reaction convinced the narrator that 

she was right.

Question 4:

What was the outcome of the interview between Mrs Dorling and the narrator?

The interview was a flop as far as the narrator was concerned. Mrs Dorling refused

to see her and talk to her in spite of the narrator’s repeated requests.

Question 5:

Who had given the narrator the address, when and under what circumstances?

Answer:

The narrator’s mother had given her the address, years ago during the first half of

the war. The narrator came home for a few days and missed various things in the rooms. Then her mother told her about Mrs Dorling and 

gave her the address.

Question 6:

What did the narrator learn about Mrs Dorling from her mother?

Answer:

Mrs Dorling was an old acquaintance of the narrator’s mother. The latter had not seen her for several years. Then she suddenly turned up 

and renewed their contact.

Every time she left that place she took something with her—table silver, antique plates, etc. –

Question 7:

What reason did Mrs Dorling give for taking away the precious belongings of the narrator’s mother?

Answer:

Mrs Dorling suggested to the narrator’s mother that she should store her belongings at a safer place. She wanted to save all her nice things. 

She explained that they would lose everything if they had to leave the place.

Question 8:

What impression do you form of the narrator’s mother on the basis of her conversation with (i) Mrs Dorling and (ii) the narrator?

Answer:

The narrator’s mother was a kind-hearted, generous and liberal lady. She was fond of collecting valuable things. She is more worried about 

the physical risk to Mrs Dorling than losing them to her. She thought it an insult to tell her friends to keep those things for ever.

Question 9:

Did the narrator fee Up evinced about the views of her mother regarding Mrs Dorling? How do you know?

Answer:

The narrator did not feel convinced about her mother’s concern for Mrs Dorling.

The latter was keen on removing the precious possessions of the narrator’s mother to her own house. It seems that the narrator did not like 

Mrs Darling’s excessive interest in her mother’s belongings. It is evident from the questions she puts to her mother.

Question 10:

What does the narrator remember about Mrs Dorling as she saw her for the first time?

Answer:

Mrs Dorling was a woman with a broad back. She wore a brown coat and a shapeless hat. She picked up a heavy suitcase lying under the 

coat rack and left their house.

She lived at number 46, Marconi Street.

Question 11:

Why did the narrator wait a long time before going to the address number 46, Marconi Street?

Answer:

Initially, after the liberation, she was not at all interested in her mother’s belongings lying stored there. She was also afraid of being 

confronted with things that had belonged to her mother, who was now no more.

Question 12:

When did the narrator become curious about her mother’s possessions?

Answer:

The narrator became curious about her mother’s possessions as normalcy returned in the post-liberation period. She knew that those things 

must still be at the address her mother told her. She wanted to see them, touch and remember.

Question 13:

“I was in a room I knew and did not know,” says the narrator in the story ‘The Address’. What prompted her to make this observation?

Answer:

The narrator found herself in the midst of things she was familiar with and which she did want to see again. However, she found them in a 

strange atmosphere where everything was arranged in a tasteless way. They ugly furniture and the muggy smell created the feeling that she 

didn’t know the room.

Question 14:

“I just looked at the still life over the tea table,” says the narrator in the story ‘The Address’. What does she mean by ‘the still life? What prompted her to make this remark?

Answer:

By ‘the still life’, the narrator means the things over the tea table such as the table-cloth, tea pot, cups and spoons. The reference to antique 

box and silver spoons prompted her to make this remark.