Summary for the lesson rattrap
Answers
The story is about an old disheartened peddler who is taken in and shown generosity by a young woman. Her generosity and kindness change his bitter attitude towards life. The peddler is a man who has fallen upon misfortune and now resorts to selling rattraps, begging, and thievery. He is very pessimistic about the world around him and sees the world as merely a “rat trap”. He believes that society tempts us with riches and fine things, and when we accept, we are caught in the trap and are left with nothing.
The story conveys a universal message that the essential goodness in a human being can be awakened through love, respect, kindness and understanding. It highlights the human predicament. Material benefits are the traps that most human beings are prone to fall into. Human beings do have a tendency to redeem themselves from dishonest ways as does the peddler at the end of the story.
Answer:
The story begins with a rattrap peddler who is in a rugged condition. He is dressed in rags and is very frail and looks starved. We learn he has no home and sometimes even begs and steals to survive in the world. He leads a lonely life with no one to care about him. One fine day, it strikes to him that this whole world is a rattrap itself. If we touch it, it will trap us and never let us go. He goes on to think that there are people out there who are already in this rattrap and reaching for the bait. On one cold evening, he reaches at a cottage to ask for shelter. An old crofter lived in that cottage who took in the peddler.
The crofter needed company so he welcomes the peddler. He gives him hot food and even tobacco to smoke. They play cards and start talking. The peddler learns that the crofter got thirty kronor for selling his cow which he keeps in a pouch on the window frame. The peddler leaves the next day but after seeing the crofter leave his cottage, he comes back to steal the pouch of money.
After stealing it, he takes the woods to remain unsuspected. In the wood, the peddler meets an ironmaster who mistakes him to be his old comrade. He invites him over for Christmas but he refuses. After that, the ironmaster’s daughter, Edla visits him and insists him to stay with them. In between, he feels sorry for stealing the crofter’s money. They help the peddler get a makeover and dress him in nice clothes and shave his beard off. After this, the ironmaster realizes he has made a mistake; the peddler was not his comrade.
Thus, the ironmaster thinks he is a fraud and decides to turn him in. However, Edla insists on letting him stay and celebrate Christmas with them. Her father agrees, and they celebrate Christmas together. Next day, the ironmaster and Edla learn that the peddler was a thief through the church about the incident at the old crofter’s. They head home in a hurry thinking he must have stolen all the silver. However, to their surprise, the peddler did not steal a thing. He left a note for Edla in the form a tiny rattrap. There was also a note thanking her for her kindness which saved him from the rattrap he got caught in. Most importantly, he also left the crofter’s money asking to return it to him.
Conclusion of The Rattrap
To sum up, The Rattrap summary, we learn that we can change the world through kindness and compassion; in addition, it teaches us that materialistic things never bring inner joy, only love and respect does.