PAAVAI VIDHYASHRAM SENIOR SECONDARY SCHOOL

(AFFILIATED TO CBSE)

CLASS : XI SUBJECT: ENGLISH

SUPPLEMENTARY LESSON 02 THE ADDRESS

INTRODUCTION:
‘The Address’ is a short story highlighting human predicament that follows war. The story beautifully
delineates the pain, anguish, and mental torture of the survivors of war. The story tells how war affects
the lives of civilians as well. It disturbs the normal life and leads to conflicts and tension. The setting of
the story is post World War II and the persecution of the Jews by Hitler’s Nazi forces. The girl (the narrator)
and her mother Mrs. S are Jews who lived in Germany. The girl goes back to the place of her mother’s
acquaintance, Mrs. Dorling, to claim her old belongings only to find that they do not carry the same value
in a different setting with unfamiliar people. The narrator loses interest in her old stuff because they evoke
the memories of her former life and make her nostalgic.
GIST OF THE LESSON:
During World War II, the Germans (the Nazis under Hitler) invaded Holland where ninety percent of the
people were Jews. Many of the Jews fled in fear to other countries. Thousands were imprisoned in
concentration camps. A woman (Mrs. S) and her daughter (the narrator) also had to leave their home. The
woman left all her things with a woman (Mrs. Dorling) known to her. After some time, Mrs. S died.
However, her daughter remembered the address where she used to live with her mother. After the war, she
came to the town where she used to live with her mother. She went to meet the woman (Mrs. Dorling)
with whom her mother had left all her precious things. But the woman refused to recognize her because
she didn’t want to return the things she had taken. The girl decided to go again and this time she was
welcomed by Mrs. Dorling’s daughter. The narrator was sad to see all her mother’s precious articles kept
in the untidy room in a tasteless manner. Then, she decided not to recover them. She even resolved to
forget the address where those belongings were kept in unpleasant surroundings.
THEME:
The story depicts the complex human emotions of intimacy, trust, hope and betrayal. It speaks of the greed
and vices that afflict a human being and how it makes them do horrible things like breaking other people’s
hopes, lying, stealing, cheating etc. Mrs. Dorling refused to return what she took from her friend and do
her duty as a friend and a responsible human being. She actually used the opportunity to take advantage
of her friend’s difficult circumstances. This represents the worst of human nature. The background of war
and persecution of innocent lives has strong connotations and beautifully foreshadows the story itself.
Q1. How did Mrs. Dorling rob Mrs. S of all her antiques and silver?
Ans. Mrs. Dorling was an old acquaintance of Mrs. S. She turned up unexpectedly during the war time.
She had her eyes on her friend’s belongings. She suggested that the silver and other antique valuables
would be safe in her house. She won the confidence of Mrs. S and offered to take the risk herself. She
carried away everything to her own house. Later on, when the narrator visited Mrs. Dorling’s house, she
received a cold welcome. Mrs. Dorling played foul and kept all the precious things with her.
Q2. Why did the narrator leave Mrs. Dorling’s house in such a hurry?
Ans. The narrator had a painful experience on her first visit to Marconi Street. She got a very cold shoulder.
But she could not help paying a second visit. She felt oppressed to see her things there. All her mother’s
antiques and precious silver and art facts were kept tastelessly in a small and musty room. Suddenly all
those familiar things lost their value for her. She also thought that her rented room was too small for them.
She did not want to see the dishonest Mrs. Dorling again. So, she left the house in a hurry.
Q3. Discuss the aptness and significance of the title of the story ‘The Address’.
Ans. The Address is a tale of war. The title is quite apt. It is the spring wheel of the action. The whole
action centres round it. Marga Minco focuses the reader’s attention on it by her doubt whether she was
mistaken and her self- assurance that she had reached the correct address. The narrator is a young girl who
comes home during the holidays. Her mother, in her absence, meets her old acquaintance Mrs. Dorling.
She allows her to take away all her silver and antiques for safe-keeping in her own house. She asks her
daughter to remember Mrs. Dorling’s address – Marconi Street, Number 46. The narrator remembers the
address. At the end of the war, she goes to that address but Mrs. Dorling refuses to recognize her. The
narrator goes to the same address a second time. She recognizes her mother’s belongings set tastelessly in
a strange place. She loses interest in them and returns home. The story ends dramatically with the
narrator’s resolve to forget the address. The wheel comes full circle. She had remembered the address for
so many years and now since the belongings of her mother stored there have lost their usefulness, she
finds that forgetting this address would be quite easy.
Q4. What were the narrator’s experience and reaction when she went to Mrs. Dorling’s house a
second time?
Ans. The narrator had an unpleasant experience during her first visit to Marconi Street. Mrs. Dorling gave
her a cold shoulder. But the narrator’s urge to see her things and touch them did not cool down. She
decided to try a second time. This time Mrs. Dorling’s daughter opened the door. Her mother was not at
home. The narrator said that she would wait for her. Following the girl along the passage, the narrator saw
their old-fashioned iron candle-holder hanging next to a mirror. The girl made her sit in the living room
and went inside. The narrator was horrified to find herself in a room she knew and did not know. She
found herself in the midst of familiar things which were scattered in a tasteless way all around. The sight
oppressed her. She dared not look around her. The woollen table-cloth, the cups, the white tea-pot, the
spoons, the pewter plate, everything was full of memories of her former life. She noticed her mother’s
beautiful tea set and the silver cutlery being used by that family in that small, musty room. Mrs. Dorling
did not even know how to use those precious things. Suddenly, the objects linked with her former life lost
their value. In strange surroundings, the things too appeared strange to her. She decided to leave the house
at the earliest. Those things evoked the memories of her earlier life. She no longer desired to possess them.
She got up, walked to the door, and came out of the house. She also made up her mind to forget her things
and Mrs. Dorling’s address.
Q5. Give a brief character-sketch of Mrs. S’s daughter.
Ans. The narrator was a young Jewish girl living in Holland with her mother. When the World War II
started, the Nazi army started evacuating all the Jews from Europe. The narrator and her mother became
very insecure. During this period, an old acquaintance of Mrs. S befriended her and offered to keep all her
valuable belongings in her safe custody. Mrs. S was a noble and trusting lady. She allowed Mrs. Dorling
to take away her precious antiques and cutlery etc. The narrator had a keen power of observation. When
she used to come home during holidays, she noticed that various things were missing from the house. At
that time, her mother told her about Mrs. Dorling and asked her to remember the address – 46, Marconi
Street. The narrator had some doubts about Mrs. Dorling but her mother silenced her. The narrator
survived the war and came back to her old city. Now her mother was dead, her house belonged to someone
else and she had no worldly possessions. Still, she was happy to be alive and tried to make a life for
herself. One day she felt an urge to go to Mrs. Dorling’s house and see all her mother’s precious
belongings. Her persistent efforts to remind Mrs. Dorling of her own identity and the latter’s relations
with her mother went in vain. She was determined and tried visiting the house a second time. This time
Mrs. Dorling’s daughter allowed her to enter the house. But when she saw that all her mother’s beautiful
things were kept by Mrs. Doling in a tasteless manner and she was even using them, the narrator lost all
interest in those things. With a feeling of detachment, she went back to her own rented room and decided
to start life afresh. She didn’t like to remain tagged to the past. She was a brave and self-respecting girl.
Her resolution to forget the address and move on shows her grit and forward looking nature.
Q6. Write a brief note on Mrs. Dorling.
Ans. Mrs. Dorling was an old acquaintance of Mrs. S. But the two were not in contact. Both had a daughter
each. Mrs. Dorling was a mean, greedy and dishonest woman. During the war, she reestablished her
contact with Mrs. S. She won the confidence of Mrs. S and carted away all the table silver and precious
old things to her own house. She explained that she wanted to save all their nice things because they would
lose everything in case they had to leave the house. The narrator’s mother never doubted her intention.
She rather felt obliged to Mrs. Dorling for taking all the trouble while carrying their things. Mrs. Dorling
had taken for granted that the narrator and her family would not come back alive from the war. The sight
of the narrator at her doorstep gave her a shocking surprise. She did not allow the narrator to walk into
her house. She sent her away dejected. When she saw the narrator at her doorstep, she became scared that
the narrator would see all her mother’s precious things and would ask to take back everything. Mrs. Doling
was a greedy and mean person. In fact, when she had offered to take away all the antique and precious
things of Mrs. S, to keep in her safe custody, her intention was not honourable at all. She had all the
intention of grabbing all those things. She was quite sure that Mrs. S and her family would not come alive
after the war.