Question: What Kind of Life Did Ali Lead As a Young Man?
Grade 10
English
Lesson: The Letter
Question: What kind of life did Ali lead as a young man?
Answer: As a young man, Ali had been a clever and skilled hunter. He was always successful in finding a partridge where others had failed. His sharp sight could spot a hare crouching low in a bush, when even dogs failed to see it. He hunted animals mercilessly.
Question: When and why did Ali change his attitude?
Answer: As Ali grew older, he began to change. When his only daughter, Miriam got married and shifted to another place, he realized the pangs of separation and concluded that the world was made of love and sorrow. He transformed completely and felt lonely in her absence. Hunting no longer dwelled as a passion in him. In the hope of receiving a letter from his daughter someday, he visited the post office religiously.
Question: What did Ali do to ensure that he would get his letter even after his death?
Answer: One day, Ali came after several days of absence, with heavy breathing and looking very sick to the post office. He went to the clerk and offered him five gold guineas to forward his daughter Miriam's letter to his grave. The clerk, Lakshmi Das was shocked at his words, but pocketed the money emotionlessly.
Question: How did the postmaster shed his haughty temper?
Answer: The post master's daughter fell very ill and lived in another town. He was anxiously waiting for news of her. In the pile of letters, he saw an envelope of the colour and shape he was expecting. He snatched it, but on looking at it closely, he saw that it was addressed to Ali. He dropped it as if it had given him an electric shock. Thereafter his haughtiness left him.
Question: What change came over the postmaster after he saw Ali's letter?
Answer:Time takes a turn. The post master who was rude to Ali suffers just like Ali did. He is restless and anxious because he has not received any news from his daughter who is in another town and is unwell. He anxiously looks through the mail only to find Miriam’s letter addressed to Ali. He immediately recalls the past and realizes the pain and anguish Ali must have gone through. A single night spent in anxiety makes him understand Ali’s heart and soul. He is filled with a deep sense of remorse and repentance for having been rude to Ali.
Question: Describe the post master's encounter with Ali after his death.
Answer: The postmaster was anxiously waiting for news of his sick daughter who was living in another town. He was unable to sleep all night due to his anxiety. He came to the post office at 4 am hoping to receive some news of her. The day before, realization had dawned upon him, how unmerciful he had been towards Ali. At the stroke of 5 am, he heard a soft knock on the door. He saw Ali leaning against his stick, tears wet on his face; a soft look of kindliness. The postmaster also saw a strange light in Ali's eyes. It was so unearthly that the postmaster shrank back in fear and astonishment.
Question: What was the postmaster's state of mind after Lakshmi Das told him about Ali's death?
Answer: The postmaster when told that Ali had died three months ago was shocked and perplexed. He was so sure he had seen Ali in his office at 5 am as usual, enquiring after Miriam's letter ,that he was filled with disbelief - had he really seen Ali or was it his imagination; or was it Lakshmi Das whom he had been talking to. He was too confused at his encounter with Ali.
Question: How is the postmaster's mind revealed in the end?
Answer: The postmaster is a changed person in the end. He now understands Ali's anxiety and restlessness for news of his daughter. He is torn and tortured by doubt and remorse by what has happened to him. He is perplexed and confused whether he has seen Ali or not. He is filled with guilt at having treated Ali so unsympathetically.
Question: What impression do you form of the postmaster after reading the story, The Letter ?
Answer: The postmaster in the beginning is ill-tempered, selfish and impatient. He is very indifferent and inconsiderate. But when he faces a situation similar to that of Ali, he changes. He becomes caring, worrying, concerned, patient, helpful, sympathetic and selfless. He also develops the virtue of understanding.
Question: The Author, Dhumaketu carefully builds up an atmosphere of loneliness and grief in the story "The letter" . Bring out this element with instances from the text.
Answer: The atmosphere of loneliness is built around the person - coachman Ali. Like him, the streets he walks through are also lonely. It is "the grey sky of early dawn" when this old man in tattered clothes walks through the silent streets every morning at 5 am. The sounds which come from some houses "help him along his lonely way". Even the post office, which is his destination, is quiet and forlorn.
The grief is also brought to the front when the author narrates how some clerks at the post office play a practical joke on the poor man by calling out his name as if there is a letter for him when in reality there isn’t any. Also "although the hunter's instinct was in his very blood and bones" he gave up hunting thinking about "the bewildered terror of the young partridges bereft of their parents".
His only daughter, who has been married and who lives with her soldier husband in the Punjab regiment has not written to him for the past five years. He realizes that the whole universe is based on love and the grief of separation is inevitable. He was indeed a very lonely man.
Question: In the story, 'The letter' is the title appropriate. Substantiate your answer with instances from the story.
Answer: The story is about Coachman Ali, once a clever shikari, waiting for a letter from his daughter, Miriam, for five long years. His daughter had got married and left him. He then understands the meaning of love and separation and gives up hunting. He waits for a letter from Miriam with boundless faith and patience tolerating the insults and teasing of the clerks in the post office. It is the arrival of Miriam's letter which changes the insensitive Postmaster's heart. His hallucination of having an encounter with Ali, leaves him absolutely shocked. The postmaster’s attitude towards letters takes a new face. He begins to perceive them as containing a warm beating heart. He discovers the essential human worth of a letter. Hence the title is appropriate as it sensitizes the reader to the importance of a letter and the promise of happiness, hope and emotion it carries with it.
The Idiomatic Phrases
1. ‘nearing its close’ means coming to an end
2. ‘to be wrapped in deadly silence’ means was very still
3. ‘to be still in the arms of sleep’ means were fast asleep
4. ‘to extend its sway’ means to continue its influence
7. ‘was drawing in’ means was coming to a close
8. ‘dragged on a cheerless existence’ meanspulled on with a poor and miserable life
9. ‘could not contain his impatience’ means couldn’t control his emotions
15. ‘had laid bare his human heart’ meanshad opened up his innermost feelings
Character Sketch of Coachman Ali
Value Points
- Coachman Ali is an epitome of tolerance and patience.
- He is very optimistic in his way of life.
- He proves to be a loving and caring father.
- He showed boundless faith towards achieving his goal.
- His strong will power is truly exemplary.
- He was very regretful as he approached the evening of his life.
- He realized the value of love and agony of separation.
- In spite of being reprimanded by all the officials in the Post office, he displayed stern determination andcontinued his routine visit to the office.