The Address

The Address is about the human plight that follows pre-war and post-war
times where Mrs.S was a Jew and was affluent whereas Mrs. Dorling was non-
jews. The daughter of S had lost her house and now she decided to come back
and take her possessions from Mrs. Dorling.

Summary of "The Address":

"The Address" by Marga Minco is a poignant story about a woman who returns
to her native place after the war to retrieve her mother’s belongings. She
locates the address, House Number 46 in Marconi Street, where her mother’s
possessions were entrusted for safekeeping. However, upon her arrival, the
woman who answers the door does not recognize her and is wearing her
mother’s green knitted sweater, which makes the protagonist certain she is at
the correct address. Despite this, the woman refuses to acknowledge her
mother or the belongings.

The protagonist reflects on the past and recalls that her mother had given her
this address before the war. After the war, she had noticed many of their
possessions were missing and learned that Mrs. Dorling, an old acquaintance
of her mother, had been entrusted with these items for safekeeping.
Disheartened by the woman’s refusal to engage, the protagonist decides to
leave but is motivated by a sense of duty and hope to try again.

On her second visit, she is met by a fifteen-year-old girl who informs her that
Mrs. Dorling is not at home but invites her in. The protagonist is struck by
how familiar yet unsettling the room is, filled with her mother’s belongings.
The sense of intrusion and the disconnection from the past lead her to
reconsider her desire to reclaim these items. Feeling uncomfortable, she
decides to leave, resolving to forget the address and abandon her pursuit of
the possessions.

Conclusion of "The Address":

"The Address" explores themes of trust, hope, and betrayal, illustrating the
deep emotional impact of war. The protagonist's encounter with Mrs. Dorling
and the confrontation with her past possessions evoke a sense of loss and
disillusionment. The story reflects on the ways in which war disrupts personal
lives and alters relationships, emphasizing the complexity of human emotions
in the face of such upheaval.

NCERT Text Book Questions

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
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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. 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.
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Extra Questions
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Short Answer Type
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:
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After war, when the life returned to normalcy, the narrator decided to see
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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.
Long Answer Type
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.
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The liberation war had broken out in Holland. An old acquaintance Mrs
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Dorling took away all the possessions from the narrator’s house to keep

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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.
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 only.
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