Question

Question 1
(a) Describe the character of Jayanto with reference to the short story,
"Fritz'.
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Answer 1

Jayanto seems to be very emotional and expressive. He gets nostalgic and overwhelmed when he recalls his childhood days. Jayanto seems to remember every moment spent in the house and expresses a few memorable incidents with lots of passion.

Answer 2

Answer:

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Jayanto, who works in the editorial section of a newspaper, is the protagonist of the short story “Fritz” by Satyajit Ray. He is depicted here as a sensitive man who cares a lot about his past memories.

The story opens with the narrator asking his friend Jayanto —

Are you well? You seem to be in low spirits today.

The very first sentence throws a hint at Jayanto’s character. He is a man with a sensitive soul. Memories tend to haunt him most of the time. His decision to visit Bundi rather than the famous places like Chittor, Jaipur or Udaipur was due to his childhood memories of the place which he had thirty-one years before. He just wanted to compare modern Bundi with the image he had in his mind.

Jayanto’s “low spirits” on the day they reached Bundi is indicative of his depression and the nostalgic feelings that overcomes him. Most of the time, he remained quiet and was lost in thought. The memories of his childhood doll named ‘Fritz’ which was destroyed by two stray dogs haunted him very much and made him emotional.

We also come to know that the doll was not just a doll to him, but he was very much attached with it. He treated it like a human being. He used to talk to ‘him’ for hours and buried it as if a real human being had died. So much attachment to the doll made him anxious even after so many years. About this emotional behaviour of Jayanto, the narrator says —

Jayanto was certainly more emotional than most people. Everyone knew that.