Class 11 English
The Address-
Summary (in English & Hindi),
Question Answer
The Address Summary In English
This is a moving story of a
daughter who goes in search of her mother’s belongings after the War, in
Holland. The narrator is the daughter of Mrs S., who died during the war. The
narrator went to number 46, Marconi Street to see Mrs Dorling who was an old
acquaintance of her mother, and who had removed almost all the belongings of
her mother during the war to this place. All this was done with Mrs S’s silent
consent as Mrs Dorling wanted to save her things, which they would lose if they
had to leave the place.
The narrator had seen Mrs
Dorling for the first time during the first half of the war. She had come home
for a few days and noticed the change in the rooms. She missed various things.
Her mother informed her that Mrs Dorling had moved these things to safety and
gave her the address 46, Marconi Street. After the war, the narrator visited
the address her mother had given her. She remembered Mrs Dorling clearly. She
was woman with a broad back. Mrs Dorling looked at the narrator searchingly and
showed no sign of recognition. She kept staring in silence. She saw that the
narrator, who had recognised her mother’s green knitted cardigan, was looking
at it. She half hid herself behind the door and refused to see her. She was
surprised to see the narrator who had survived from the war.
The narrator returned to the station and boarded the train. While in train she
remembered the first time she had seen Mrs Dorling and how her mother had
introduced her to her old acquaintance and given the address.
After
the first fruitless visit to Mrs Dorling’s house, the narrator visited the
place a second time. This time, a girl of about fifteen opened the door to her.
She asked the girl if her mother was at home. Since she was away, the narrator
decided to wait for her.
She followed the girl along the passage. The first thing that struck her was an
old-fashioned iron Hanukkah candle-holder hung next to a mirror. Then they went
into the living room. The narrator was horrified as she was in a room she knew
and did not know. She found herself in the midst of things she had so wanted to
see again, but which oppressed her in the strange atmosphere. The tasteless way
of arrangement, ugly furniture and the muggy smell all contributed to arouse
this feeling. She didn’t have the courage to look around her. She sat down and
stared at the woollen table-cloth. As she followed the lines of the pattern,
she remembered that it was their table-cloth, which had a burn mark that had
never been repaired. Soon she found the hole.
The girl poured her tea from a white pot which had a gold border on the lid.
She opened the box and took out some spoons. The narrator praised the box. Mrs
Dorling’s daughter said that it was an antique. They had got lots more and she
pointed round the room. The narrator knew very well which things she meant. She
remarked that the cutlery-spoons, forks and knives was silver. The girl
laughed. She walked to the side board and wanted to open a drawer.
The
narrator fell perturbed. The objects linked with her mother, aroused memories of
her former life. At first she was eager to see them, but now they had lost
their value since they were severed from her mother and were stored in strange
surroundings. Moreover, they were useless to her in her present state. She
lived in a small rented room with space for no more than a handful of cutlery
fitted in the narrow table drawer.
She resolved to forget the address. She wanted to leave the memories of her
mother and the war behind her and decided to move on.
The Address Summary In Hindi
यह एक ऐसी बेटी की हृदयस्पर्शी कथा है जो
हालैंड में युद्ध के उपरांत अपनी माँ की संपत्ति (वस्तुओं) की तलाश में जाती है।
कथाकार श्रीमति एस० की पुत्री है जिसकी युद्ध के दौरान मृत्यु हो गई। वर्णनकर्ता
मारकोनी स्ट्रीट के 46 नंबर मकान
में उस श्रीमति डोरलिंग से भेंट करने गई जो कि उसकी माँ की पुरानी परिचित थी तथा
जो युद्ध के दौरान उसकी माँ की सभी वस्तुओं को यहाँ ले आई थी। यह सब श्रीमती एस०
की मौन स्वीकृति के साथ किया गया क्योंकि श्रीमति डोरलिंग उन वस्तुओं को बचाना
चाहती थीं जिन्हें वे खो देते यदि उन्हें वह स्थान त्यागना पड़ता। वर्णनकर्ता ने
श्रीमति डोरलिंग को पहली बार युद्ध के पूर्वाद्ध में देखा था। वह अपने घर पर कुछ
दिन के लिए आई थी तथा उसका कमरों में परिवर्तन की ओर ध्यान गया। उसे कई वस्तुएँ
नदारद (गायब) मिली। उसकी माँ ने उसे सूचित किया कि श्रीमति डोरलिंग इन वस्तुओं को
सुरक्षित स्थान पर ले गई थी और उसे पता बताया- नंबर 46, मारकोनी स्ट्रीट।
युद्ध के उपरांत वर्णनकर्ता उस पते पर
पहुँची जो उसकी माँ ने उसे दिया था। उसे श्रीमति डोरलिंग स्पष्टतया याद थी। वह
चौड़ी पीठ वाली महिला थी। श्रीमति डोरलिंग ने वर्णनकर्ता को खोजने की दृष्टि से
देखा किंतु पहचान के कोई भाव प्रकट नहीं किए। वह चुपचाप घूरती रही। उसने देखा कि
वर्णनकर्ता, जिसने अपनी माँ का सलाइयों से बना हरा
कार्डिगन पहचान लिया था, इसे ध्यान से
देख रही थी। उसने स्वयं को आधा दरवाजे के पीछे छिपा लिया तथा उससे भेंट करने से
मना कर दिया। उसे उस वर्णनकर्ता को देखकर आश्चर्य हुआ जो युद्ध के बाद जीवित बच गई
थी।
वर्णनकर्ता स्टेशन पर लौट आई तथा रेलगाड़ी में सवार हो गई। जब वह गाड़ी में थी तो
उसे श्रीमति डोरलिंग के साथ प्रथम भेंट याद आई और यह कि किस प्रकार उसकी माँ ने
उसको परिचय अपनी पुरानी परिचित से कराया था तथा उसे यह पता दिया था।
श्रीमति डोरलिंग के घर, प्रथम निष्फल भ्रमण के उपरांत, वर्णनकर्ता दूसरी बार उसके घर गई। इस बार 15 वर्षीय एक लड़की ने उसके लिए दरवाजा खोला।
उसने लड़की से पूछा कि क्या उसकी माँ घर पर थी। क्योंकि वह बाहर गई हुई थी, वर्णनकर्ता ने उसकी प्रतीक्षा करने का
निर्णय किया।
वह लड़की के पीछे-पीछे गलियारे में गई।
पहली वस्तु जिसने उसका ध्यान आकर्षित किया वह था पुराना लोहे का हानुका
शमादान-नुमा फानूस जो एक दर्पण के समीप लटक रहा था। फिर वे बैठक में चले गए।
वर्णनकर्ता भयभीत हो गई क्योंकि वह एक ऐसे कक्ष (कमरे) में थी जिसे वह जानती भी थी
और नहीं भी। उसने स्वयं को उन वस्तुओं के मध्य में पाया जिनको देखने की उसकी इतनी
अधिक चाह (इच्छा) थी, किंतु वे इस
विचित्र वातावरण में उसे सता रही थीं। वस्तुओं को सजाने का रुचिहीन क्रम, भद्दा फर्नीचर तथा सीलन की दुर्गन्ध-सभी
ने इस भावना को उभारने में योगदान दिया। उसमें अपने चारों ओर देखने का साहस नहीं
रही। वह बैठ गई तथा ऊनी मेज़पोश को घूर घूरकर देखने लगी। जब वह नमूने की रेखाओं का
ध्यान से अनुसरण करने लगी, तो उसे याद
आया कि यह उनको ही मेज़पोश था, जिसमें जल
जाने का ऐसा चिह्न था जिसकी कभी मरम्मत नहीं की गई थी। शीघ्र ही उसे वह छेद मिल
गया।
लड़की ने उसके लिए एक सफेद चायदानी से चाय डाली जिसके ढक्कन पर सुनहरा किनारा था।
उसने डिब्बा खोला तथा कुछ चम्मच निकाले। वर्णनकर्ता ने डिब्बे की प्रशंसा की।
श्रीमति डोरलिंग की पुत्री ने कहा कि यह एक अति प्राचीन वस्तु थी। उनके पास काफी
अधिक और भी थे तथा उसने कमरे के चारों और इशारा किया। वर्णनकर्ता को भली-भाँति
ज्ञात था कि उसका तात्पर्य किन वस्तुओं से था। उसने कहा कि चम्मच, काँटे, छुरी आदि ये उपकरण चाँदी के थे। वह लड़की
हँस पड़ी। वह साथ रखी दराजों वाली मेज के पास चलकर गई और उसने इसका एक दराज़ खोलना
चाहा।।
वर्णनकर्ता परेशान (विचलित) महसूस करने
लगी। उसकी माँ से संबंधित वस्तुएँ उसके विगत जीवन की स्मृतियों को उभारने लगी।
पहले वह उन्हें देखने को लालायित (उत्सुक) थी, किंतु अब वे अपना मूल्य गंवा बैठे थे क्योंकि वे उसकी माँ से पृथक् हो गए थे
तथा उन्हें अज़नबी वातावरण में सहेजकर रखा गया था। इसके अतिरिक्त, उसकी अपनी वर्तमान स्थिति में, वे उसके लिए बेकार थे। वह किराए के एक
छोटे से कमरे में रहती थी जिसमें तंग दराजों वाली मेज में मुट्ठीभर चाकू, काँटे, छुरी आदि रखने से अधिक स्थान नहीं था।
उसने इस पते को भूल जाने का निश्चय किया।
वह अपनी माँ तथा युद्ध की स्मृतियों को पीछे छोड़ना चाहती थी और उसने आगे बढ़ने का
निर्णय लिया।
The
Address NCERT Solutions for Class 11 English Snapshots Chapter 2
The
Address NCERT Text Book Questions and Answers
The Address 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, the above said statement in question gives us a clue about the story. It
clearly proves that the lady, whom the young girl had paid a visit, knew her
already and didn’t want to meet her.
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:
The girl suffered severely. She was severed from every precious household
things, house, even her relations during the period. The story tells clearly,
earlier she was a happy soul but during post-war period, she was a lost soul
living in a rented room in very miserable condition.
Question 3.
Why did the narrator of the story want to forget the address?
Answer:
The narrator of the story is a young girl, a victim of war. The war had left
her a desolate soul. But the narrator appears to be a very optimistic sort of
girl. After paying a tributary visit to see her long served household articles,
she decided to forget everything about her past even the address as she wanted
to start a fresh. Everything linked with her past had lost its value to her.
Question 4.
‘The Address’ is a story of human predicament that follows war.’ Comment.
Answer:
Yes, it’s quite aptly said that ‘The Address’ is a poignant story of human
predicament that follows war. The story seems to discuss about the loss of a
little girl after war in Holland. The protagonist was Mrs S’s daughter leading
a very happy and peaceful life with her family luring pre-war time.
She had almost all the luxuries and
decorations at her home, large vases, silver cutlery, antique plates, crockery,
Hanakkah candle-holder, pewter plates, white pot with a gold border on the lid.
So to say, the girl had nothing to :
complain.
Then the fatal war broke out and
mysterious old acquaintance appeared from nowhere named Mrs Dorling living at
Marconi Street No. 46. She ‘helped’ the protagonist’s mother to keep safe their
household possessions. She took away all their household goods to her own home
and never looked back. The losses for the poor girl also never hesitated to
befall on her.
War created havoc to her not only
material life but also in her emotional life. She lost her all the relations,
home everything else having relation with her happy past life. When she paid a
visit to have a look at her old possessions, she felt like a lost soul. She
felt so heavy-hearted, that she left the place, never to return. War made her
so severed that she resolved to erase the address from her memory.
The Address Extra Questions and Answers
Question 1.
Why does the narrator think that she has rung the wrong bell?
Answer:
The narrator thinks so as the woman owner of the house shows no sign of
recognition. She refuses to recognise the narrator.
Question 2.
How does the narrator realise that she has rung the right bell?
Answer:
The woman occupant of the house was wearing the green knitted cardigan of
narrator’s mother though the wooden buttons had become pale from washing. When
she realised that the narrator was looking at her cardigan, she became
conscious and half hid herself behind the door. Then the narrator knew that she
had rung the right bell.
Question 3.
Who was the woman with the broad back? Why did she take away all the nice
things from narrator’s house ?
Answer:
The woman seemed an old acquaintance of the narrator’s mother whom she hadn’t
seen for years. The war for liberation had broken out. It was supposed that
they would have to leave the house. In that case, their all the household
articles would be left behind. Perhaps the woman Marconi Street, the woman with
broad back was unaffected with the war. So to keep safe the nice things at the
narrator’s home, she carried them away.
Question 4.
To what extent did the life assume its normal self after the war for the
narrator?
Answer:
Life returned to its normal self after the war gradually for the narrator also
but only upto the extent that the bread became lighter in colour. Now she could
sleep unthreatened. But the loss of relations and possessions made her feel
about them.
Question 5.
Why did the narrator go to Number 46, in Marconi Street?
Answer:
Number 46, in Marconi Street was the address, where the valuable possessions of
her household were supposed lying safe. So the narrator went there as to see
them, touch them and remember them once again.
Question 6.
Why did the old possessions of the narrator lose their value?
Answer:
After war, when the life returned to normalcy, the narrator decided to see her
old possessions at Number 46, in Marconi Street. But as he reached there the
things lost their , value firstly because they were arranged in a tasteless
way. Secondly and more importantly, the things had an association with the
relations which no more existed. So the narrator better felt it right to leave them
behind.
Question 7.
What was the narrator’s reaction as she found herself infront of her old
household things?
Answer:
The narrator was horrified and oppressed as she found herself infront of her
old household things. She also felt a sense of estrangement with those things
finding them arranged in a tasteless and strange atmosphere.
Question 8.
What impression do you form of the girl of the woman with broad back?
Answer:
The girl is about 15 years old. She seems to be a simpleton fellow. She let the
narrator inside the house, though a stranger to her. She showed her the
collection of her mother’s valuable articles. She offered the narrator a cup of
tea also.
Question 9.
What is the present state of life for the narrator?
Answer:
The narrator now is severed from her every important relation and possession.
Now she lives in a small rented room only. War really has heavy toll on her
personal life.
Question 10.
What is the narrator’s final resolution?
Answer:
The narrator after paying a visit at Number 46, in Marconi Street, resolved to
forget the address. She didn’t want to keep the memory of the things also which
reminded
her of her loss. It marks a note of optimism in narrator’s attitude. She has
decided to start afresh.
The
Address Extra Questions Long Answer Type
Question 1.
Give the pen portrait of the narrator.
Answer:
The narrator lives in Holland. Life has changed drastically for her after the
liberation war. Her early life. She enjoyed a happy life, with her family. She
had all the belongings in her house to make life comfortable and cosy.
Transformation in Her Life. The liberation war in Holland brought a sea-change
in her life. Earlier, she had all the things to cling to; relations and
possessions; now she has none. She even had to leave her house. Now she lives
in a rented small room trying hard to collect the loose ends of life.
Her Final Resolve. After war, the
life had once again started treading upon the normal ,track. She became curious
to have a look, touch of her old stuff lying ‘safe’ in house No. 46 in Marconi
Street. She took a train and went there. But Mrs. Dorling refused to recognise
her. The girl had no option except to return. But again she tried. This time
Mrs Dorling’s daughter, a fifteen year old girl opened the door.
She let her in. The narrator found
her old familiar things lying in ugly way in a strange atmosphere. She felt
horrified and oppressed.She decided to forget everything about her past and to
start her iife in a new way with her rented room and less cutlery. The
narrator’s final resolve talks about her optimistic view about life. Life has to
go on. Better forget the sour past to make your future a bit easier.
Question 2.
Justify the title of the story ‘The Address’.
Answer:
The Address is quite apt and appropriate title for the story. The story starts
with the search of ‘the address’ by the protagonist. It ends with the
narrator’s departure from ‘the address’ only Moreover her visit to the address
brings a change in her life and motivates her to forget the sad past.
The liberation war had broken out in
Holland. An old acquaintance Mrs Dorling took away all the possessions from the
narrator’s house to keep them safe. The war laid the poor narrator homeless and
relationless. She started living in a rented small room. One day she got
curious to see her old belongings. She reached the address told by her mother a
few years ago.
At first attempt, she had to return
emptyhanded. She went there second time. She was let in. But the sight of her
old stuff arranged in an ugly manner in a strange atmosphere made her feel
horrified. She felt as if she didn’t know the things in spite of the fact those
were her familiar things.
So much so to even notice them. She
felt, it’s never too late to repair the bum marks in life and realising this,
she left in a fresher mood to start her life afresh in her own way without the
crutches of the sour past which would pierce sharp into her emotions. She
leaves the house feeling dejected from the old things for whom she had seen
hunting just to touch.
Question 3.
Give a brief note on Mrs. Dorling.
Answer:
Mrs. Dorling appears a veiy mysterious lady with greedy heart and shrewd mind.
She contacted Mrs. S, only at the time when the war in Holland was about to
break. She convinced Mrs. S to hand her all the possessions to her sole self to
keep them safe. Mrs. S is taken in. She is too simple to question the
appropriateness of the demand. Mrs Dorling insisted to take away Mrs S’s all
the belongings.
She would come early in the morning
so that she could complete her ‘errands’, unnoticed by the neighbours. One by
one she took away all the stuff from Mrs S’s house. But she didn’t keep those
things ‘safe’. She used them; the narrator came to know about it on her visit.
Her meanness didn’t stop here only.
When the narrator (Mrs. S’s daughter) visited her, she refused to recognise
her. When the narrator recognised the cardigan as her mother’s she was shrewd
enough to hide herself behind the door. It was clear that she didn’t want to
return those valuables.
Later when the narrator visited her
house the second time, her fifteen year old daughter told that her mother was
out on her important ‘errand’.It all clearly proves that Mrs. Dorling was such
a fellow who would go to any extent to profit herself. Her character is typical
of such rogues who crop, soar at the time of wars. Such people are after
gold
