Write short simle summary of the chapter "THE LETTER and main questions with answer
Answers
"The Letter" is an emotional story of an old man named Ali who is all alone and waiting for a letter from his only child, his daughter named Miriam. But unfortunately he receives that letter only at his grave.
Ali had been a brilliant hunter who derived pleasure from the terrorized faces of the young ones of the dying birds. After his daughter’s marriage, he was left alone. His daughter, Miriam left home with her husband, a soldier in a regiment in Punjab. Having understood the meaning of love and separation, he could no longer enjoy hunting.
Since then, he had been regularly visiting the post office in the early morning, expecting a letter from his daughter Miriam. However, it never came and he would return back disappointed. The post office staff often made fun of him. The clerk even called out his name jokingly even there was no letter for him. Suddenly, for several days, Ali did not come to the post office. Everyone was curious to know the reason behind this.
At last, he did come. But now it was difficult for him even to breathe and there were clear signs of his nearing death. Finally, he met the postmaster and asked him for Miriam’s letter. The post master scolded Ali because he was very busy. Consequently, Ali called a clerk and gave him five golden coins and asked him to deliver his letter, if it would come, to his grave. Then he slowly left and was not seen after that day.
One day, the post master’s daughter fell ill and he was anxious to hear from her. He searched for the letter from his daughter in the pile of letters and picked up a letter, the kind he expected. It was addressed to “Coachman Ali”. Now he realized his mistake. He called Lakshmi Das, a clerk and asked him to find out Ali. That day he did not receive his letter and decided that he would hand over Ali’s letter himself.
QUESTIONS
Who was Ali? Where did he go daily?
Answer: Ali was an old man. He used to go to the Post Office daily.
"Ali displays qualities of love and patience". Give evidence from the story to support the statement.
Answer: Ali loves his daughter too much. This is evident from the fact that when his daughter goes away from him, he realizes the pain of separation. He has truckload of patience which is evident in his daily sojourn to the Post Office.
How do you know Ali was a familiar figure at the post office?
Answer: All the staffs at the post office know him by face and name. They even remember his daughter’s name. The staffs often discuss the mental state of Ali during breaks. This shows that Ali was a familiar figure at the post office.
Why did Ali give up hunting?
Answer: When Ali’s daughter got married and left her; he understood the pain of separation. He began to empathise with the animals whose near and dear ones get killed by a hunter. After that, Ali gave up hunting.
In the post office, the next morning he opened the door and saw Ali leaning on a stick with tears in his eyes. His eyes had a light so unearthly that the postmaster got scared. But, suddenly he disappeared. Lakshmi Das, the clerk was shocked to hear the postmaster call out the name of Coachman Ali who had now been dead for three months. The letter was found near the door. Lakshmi Das tells him about his last meeting with Ali to convince him.
That evening both of them went to place the letter on Ali‘s grave. The post master repented for his attitude and thought that he should have been more sympathetic and helpful towards Ali. He was no longer ill-tempered.
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