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Question
Discuss the following in groups of four. Each group can deal with one topic. Present the views of your group to the whole class.
The story also focuses on human loneliness and the need to bond with others.
Solution
The Rattrap deals with the issues of human loneliness and the need to bond with others. Not only the peddler but also other characters like the crofter, the ironmaster and Edla emphasise this fact.
The peddler’s conscience had left him because he had been lonely in his predicament, for a long time. But Edla’s kindness and hospitality changed him. The crofter, on the other hand, is a lonely fellow whose craving for company leads him to give shelter to a vagabond, and he ends up getting robbed. Even, the ironmaster and his daughter suffer from loneliness. They crave company on Christmas Eve and are excited when they get the opportunity to serve a guest.
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RELATED QUESTIONS
Answer the following question in 120-150 words:
The peddler thinks that the whole world is a rattrap. This view of life is true only of himself and of no one else in the story. Comment.
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Did the peddler expect the kind of hospitality that he received from the crofter?
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Why did he show the thirty kroner to the peddler?
Did the peddler respect the confidence reposed in him by the crofter?
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The peddler comes out as a person with a subtle sense of humour. How does this serve in lightening the seriousness of the theme of the story and also endear him to us?
Discuss the following in groups of four. Each group can deal with one topic. Present the views of your group to the whole class.
The reader’s sympathy is with the peddler right from the beginning of the story. Why is this so? Is the sympathy justified?
Discuss the following in groups of four. Each group can deal with one topic. Present the views of your group to the whole class.
The story is both entertaining and philosophical.
The man selling rattraps is referred to by many terms such as “peddler, stranger” etc. Pick out all such references to him. What does each of these labels indicate of the context or the attitude of the people around him?
The iron master accuses the peddler of not being quite honest. What does the peddler say to justify the situation?
What Christmas present did the peddler give Edla? Explain its significance.
Answer the following question in about 40-50 words.
How does the setting of the remote forest location in 'The Rattrap' contribute to the overall tone and mood of the story?
Read the given extract and answer the questions.
| “I am thinking of this stranger here,” said Edla. “He walks and walks the whole year long, and there is probably not a single place in the whole country where he is welcome and can feel at home. Wherever he turns he is chased away. Always he is afraid of being arrested and cross-examined. I should like to have him enjoy a day of peace with us here – just one in the whole year.” |
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Edla wished the Pedlar to have a peaceful day because ______.
- the Pedlar had worked for Edla
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- the Pedlar had been staying at the forge
- the Pedlar had always been looked with suspicion
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single : multiple :: abroad : ______. - In the above extract, Edla comes across as ______. (1)
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- Money is important in the world.
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Explain the metaphor of the rattrap.
