NCERT Solutions for Class 11 English Ch-11: The Address
'The Address' by Marga Minco is a poignant post-World War II story about a woman who returns to her family's former address to reclaim belongings entrusted to a family friend for safekeeping during the Nazi occupation, only to confront a deeply unsettling reality.
Overview of Topics & Subtopics
Important Questions and Answers
Q1: Why did the narrator's mother entrust her belongings to Mrs. Dorling before the war?
Answer: Fearing the confiscation or destruction of her possessions during the Nazi occupation, the narrator's mother entrusted her valuable household items and belongings to Mrs. Dorling, an acquaintance, for safekeeping until it was safe to reclaim them.
Q2: What does the narrator find when she visits the address after the war?
Answer: When the narrator visits the address after the war, she finds Mrs. Dorling using and displaying her deceased mother's belongings as though they were her own, treating the narrator, the rightful owner's daughter, with cold indifference and reluctance to acknowledge the situation.
Q3: How does the narrator emotionally react upon seeing her mother's things being used by a stranger?
Answer: The narrator feels a deep sense of alienation, discomfort, and grief upon seeing her mother's cherished belongings being casually used and displayed by Mrs. Dorling's family, feeling that the true emotional connection and memories attached to these objects had been stripped away.
Q4: What decision does the narrator ultimately make regarding reclaiming her mother's belongings?
Answer: The narrator ultimately decides not to pursue reclaiming her mother's belongings, choosing instead to walk away and let go of the address and the objects entirely, realizing that holding onto these material possessions would not restore what she had truly lost — her family and their past life.
Q5: What is the central theme of 'The Address'?
Answer: The central theme of the story is about coping with profound loss and trauma following war, and understanding that true memories and identity are not defined by material possessions but must be carried forward internally, even when physical connections to the past are irretrievably altered or lost.