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The Address

The story is about a girl who goes to Mrs. Dorling's house to retrieve possessions that belonged to her family before the war. When she arrives, Mrs. Dorling does not recognize her and is cold in her reception. She is eventually let inside by Mrs. Dorling's daughter. Upon seeing the possessions arranged in the living room, she no longer feels connected to them and decides to leave without taking anything back. The visit brings back difficult memories of the war and her late mother, so she decides she does not want to return to the address or see the possessions again.

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Dhruv Pandita
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132 views2 pages

The Address

The story is about a girl who goes to Mrs. Dorling's house to retrieve possessions that belonged to her family before the war. When she arrives, Mrs. Dorling does not recognize her and is cold in her reception. She is eventually let inside by Mrs. Dorling's daughter. Upon seeing the possessions arranged in the living room, she no longer feels connected to them and decides to leave without taking anything back. The visit brings back difficult memories of the war and her late mother, so she decides she does not want to return to the address or see the possessions again.

Uploaded by

Dhruv Pandita
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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DAV PUBLIC SCHOL PRATAP VIHAR, GHAZIABAD

CLASS – XI SUBJECT – ENGLISH


TOPIC : The Address
INTRODUCTION
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.

Summary
After ringing the doorbell of Mrs. Dorling who lived at Number 46, Marconi Street, the
protagonist was given a cold reception and Mrs Dorling took much time to recognize her. Mrs
Dorling had thought everyone in the protanogist’s family was dead and asked if anyone else had
come along with her. Mrs Dorling refused to let the protagonist inside her home and told her to
come back sometime later. The protagonist recognized her mother’s green cardigan which Mrs
Dorling was wearing. She decided to go back to the train station and thought about her mother
and how she told her about Mrs. Dorling who was an acquaintance of hers. During the war, Mrs
Dorling would visit their house and take their possessions with her as she didn’t want them to get
lost if they ever left the place. Mrs. Dorling had a broad back.
The protagonist decided to go to Mrs Dorling’s home to get back their belongings. When she
rang the bell, Mrs. Dorling’s daughter answered the door. She let her in and asked her to wait in
the living room. When they were crossing the passage, the protagonist noticed their Hanukkah
candle stand that they had never used because it had been unmanageable. When she reached the
living room, she was horrified as she saw all her mother’s things that were arranged in a tasteless
manner. The furniture was ugly and the room had a muggy smell and it made her disinterested
and she wanted to leave the place. Mrs. Dorling’s daughter offered her a cup of tea and the
protagonist noticed the old table cloth that had a burn mark on it. When the girl was showing her
the silver fork and spoons that actually belonged to the protagonist, she jumped up and walked
out of the house. She decided not to visit the place again as it brought back memories of the past
and hence, she decided to forget the address.
 

Questions and Answers


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?
Ans: The quoted statement gives us a clue about the story. It means that the two families were
acquaintances who knew each other and stayed nearby. During the war, many families left the
land to take refuge in another place while some of the families stayed back at the same place.
Mrs. Dorling thought that the family of Mrs. S died during the war and that is why she gave such
a cold reaction to the girl who came to visit her.
 
2. The story is divided into pre-War and post-War times. What hardships do you think the
girl underwent during these times?
Ans: The story is based on the pre-War and post-War period. The family of the girl was rich
before the war and they had valuable possessions in their house. When the war started, Mrs.
Dorling established contact with them and started visiting them again. She started taking the
possessions with her whenever she would visit as she believed if they would leave the place,
such things should not be wasted. The girl suffered a lot, her mother died and she had to live in a
rented place. She found it really difficult to go back to the place where her childhood was spent
and she wanted her belongings back. When she went to meet Mrs. Dorling, she noticed how the
things were arranged in a tasteless manner. She could no longer connect to them and she lost her
interest in them and partly she was afraid. The girl finally decided to leave the house and forget
the address.
 
3. Why did the narrator of the story want to forget the address?
Ans: Mrs. Dorling kept the valuable items in her house until the war was over as she didn’t want
them to lose during the war in case they decided to leave the place. Her mother gave her the
address of Mrs. Dorling ’46, Marconi Street’. She remembered the address and decided to visit
her anyway. She was afraid to visit the place again as it brought back many past memories.
When she saw all the possessions, they were arranged in a tasteless manner and she lost interest
in them. She could not connect with the things and thought that she would not stay at the house
any longer, she would destroy the good memories she had with those items. She finally decided
to forget the address and not to go back to that place.
 
4. ‘The Address’ is a story of human predicament that follows war. Comment.
Ans: The war always brings a lot of suffering to human beings. It brings them both destruction
and death. ‘The Address’ is based on the same theme. During the war, all the belongings were
taken by Mrs. Dorling who promised to keep them safe. The mother of the protagonist died and
all the possessions were left with the acquaintance. Years later the girl decided to visit the house
whose address was given by her mother years ago. The woman showed no sympathy to her and
took the time to even recognize her. She thought everyone in her family had died. The girl
wanted to take back her belongings. She didn’t allow the girl to enter the house. She seemed like
a woman who didn’t have any human emotions. So, the war leaves the world desolated and it
cannot be healed.

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