NCERT Solutions for Class 12 English Flamingo Chapter 4 The Rattrap

One day when he was thinking about something, he got the idea that this entire world is nothing but a rattrap only. He compared this world with his occupation. The way a hunter puts bait for rats and traps it, same way this world is also gets trapped in home, food, shelter, luxury etc. And once they get into it, they never get out of it until death.

He always laughed at this thought of his.He used to make rattraps from scrap and stolen goods and sell them to people.He also used to think about his work that how rats get caught in the greed made by people.And he feels that all the people around him who roam from morning till evening for bread and all the household items are like rats. And the necessities and luxuries are like baits which tempts all human beings.

He certainly didn’t expect it at all. Till today no one used to talk to him properly because of his clothes, work and body language. Only those people talked to him who needed that rattrap.This was the first time that someone had called him in the house after talking with love and offered him something to eat and drink. Crofter treated him like a family member which was unexpected for peddler.

Crofter lived alone. He had neither wife nor kids. He was living a boring life alone. Despite his hard work and good earning, when there was no one to talk at home, it bothered him a lot. When Peddler reached his house, he did not think that he was stranger or what was his background is. He started talking, eating food with him like a true friend. In no time, like any of his old friends, he also started telling him some of his secrets.

This story shows that Crofter was a simple man who used to trust others quickly.When he shared food and beverages with peddler, he told him something about his recent source of income which he was very happy about. When the peddler did not believe in his earnings, he showed those thirty kronor to make the peddler believe.

The kind of hospitality exemplified by crofter should have awakened the peddler’s inner soul but it didn’t happen. Thinking of him as his friend, crofter shared everything with him whole heartedly. Peddler should have not deceived him.But his nature was something like this. One whose job was to steal and deceive people was in his blood. Nothing changed in him in one night with crofter. He cheated on him as soon as he got the chance and stole the money.

The peddler prided himself on stealing money from the crofter’s house for nearly an hour. Fearing not to be caught, he chose the path of the forest and avoided highway route. After some time, he got lost in it and lost his way because it was a thick forest. Now he started to feel that this stolen money is like bait, in whose greed he has got caught in the same way as a rat in a trap.He started feeling that now he will never be able to get out of this mesh and will become a victim of some hunter. This fear shook him to the core.

The ironmaster spoke kindly to the peddler and invited him home because it was dark in forge furnace and the ironmaster didn’t recognize the peddler correctly. He thought he was his old regimental comrade and friend Captain VonStahle. His appearance was very bad, the ironmaster immediately wanted to help him.After hearing his sad story, he felt bad and wanted to help him and also wanted to enjoy Christmas together.

There were two main reasons for this. One, he was not the captain of his acquaintance which till now Ironmaster was thinking about him. Once he would come to know that he was not a captain but a thief, he could have got him arrested by the police. Secondly, he had just come stealing. Taking refuge in the Ironmaster’s house was like taking refuge in a lion’s cage.Because of this, he had declined the invitation.

Edla invited Peddler in a very kind and polite manner. He assured that he can leave their house whenever he wants to. When Edla said that he and his father wanted him to celebrate the biggest day of the year, the Christmas festival, Peddler couldn’t deny it.

While talking to peddler Edla found that he was scared. If he was really a captain and a comrade, he would have talked openly but it was not the case. From his clothes and his body language, it seemed that he had either escaped by stealing or by breaking jail.

It was night time and the ironmaster and his daughter had convinced the peddler to bring him home to celebrate Christmas and to look after his pitiable condition. The next day, when the servant brought him to the dining hall for breakfast after shaving and cleaning, he was stunned to see his new look.Then he realized that he had made a mistake in recognizing Peddler the previous night.He was not a captain but a rattrap seller.

After Peddler revealed his true face, he said in clear words that he had never promised to be the captain or a person of his contact. He only wanted to spend the night in that forge. But iron master and his daughter forced him to spend time at their home. Moreover, he has not harmed anyone in any way by coming to their house.If he allows, he will want to pick up his belongings and leave immediately.

Eedla was a kind hearted person. She had already taken pity on peddler.She knew that the peddler had not played any tricks before entering the house, nor he had caused any harm to anyone.That’s why she didn’t want to leave the house by hitting him. Rather, she wanted to give him a chance during the festival and wanted to enjoy Christmas together.

Edla was disappointed when she learned that the Crofter’s house had been robbed and for this his guest peddler was responsible. But when she saw peddler’s gift on return i.e a rattrap with ten kronor notes, she was overjoyed to go against his father’s decision to help him the previous night. And this help made a big difference to peddler. With this gift, peddler gave a message to Edla that he was grateful to her and was ready to live a new life from today.

Wherever Peddler went till date, he was not treated well. His thinking had become that this world is also a rat trap.He got a lot of respect at the ironmaster’s house even after knowing that he was a thief. With this respect and honour, he had changed himself. He signed himself off as Captain von Stahle because he wrote the letter as a dignified and respected man and not as a peddler.

Peddler interprets the acts of kindness shown by the crofter, the iron master and Edla distinctively. He looked at the crofter through the eyes of a moneylender or a rich man. He did not respect the hospitality accorded to him by the crofter and stole the money held by him. On the contrary, he understood the favor the Iron Master and his daughter did to Peddler and promised a return gift and a big change in himself.

The way of thinking of Ironmaster and his daughter was completely different.Ironmaster lands on conclusion very quickly. First he did not recognize the peddler in first instance but when he recognized him he called in the sherrif without delays. On the other hand, his daughter Edla was cool and calm lady who used to take decisions by looking at the exigencies of the occasion. If the daughter had not given a chance to the peddler and had thought like the father, then the peddler would not have changed even today and his stealing habit would still have remained.

There are many instances of unexpected reactions from all the characters. It was a big surprise for peddler when the crofter invited him into the house and fed him with respect and shared secrets.It was astonishing to him when the ironmaster addressed the peddler as captain. Ironmaster thought it was his old regimental comrade and Captain while this was not the case and it was revealed the next day when Peddler came in front of him after taking a shower and hair- cut. Even after knowing the truth about peddler, sheltering him in the house was an unexpected thing for peddler. Last but not the least, it was totally unexpected for Edla when a thief changes himself just because of the humanity she did with him.

Edla was responsible for the change in peddler. The things which could not be done by force out of anger till now were done by Edla with love. She convinced peddler to come home first from her words and then did not get him arrested even after knowing his truth.These things left a deep impression on his heart. Not only had this she also presented him with Christmas suit as gift. All these things changed peddler’s way.

Rattrap’s metaphor has been presented in this story many times in different ways by author. This world has been described as rattrap and materialistic things as cheese. Name, fame, money, shelter, food, luxury are some of the things behind which a person is engaged from life to death.Not being happy with basic necessities and following them, humans are not able to get out of it even though they feel themselves trapped in a rat trap. Similar was the case with peddler who got caught in the rattrap due to the greed of thirty kronos and escaped only when he returned it.

The peddler comes out as a person with a subtle sense of humour which is disclosed during his interactions with ironmaster and his daughter Edla. Due to his strange thoughts, he had assumed that this world was like a rat trap and all of us want to eat or get that bait by coming under some temptation and then get bound in the same vicious circle.He had also shared these thoughts with the ironmaster and made him laugh. He thus lightened the seriousness of the theme of the story.

The reader sympathizes with the peddler right from the beginning. There are many reasons for this. Even if he did some minor thefts, he still used to collect scrap from various places make rattraps from them and sells them to general public. He was not a big criminal.
He had a bad time in the past after which his ideology had become such that he felt that the whole world was a rattrap and all these emotions and luxuries are bait for the trap and one must avoid them to enjoy life.
The reason for the reader’s sympathy was also that he was treated badly everywhere. Wherever he went for shelter, he was refused.Crofter was the only man who happily sheltered him in his home.He won the sympathy of the readers by returning thirty kronos and promising Edla that from now on he would start a new life and leave the path he had taken till now.If he still stole something from Edla’s house, he obviously wouldn’t have got anyone’s sympathy. But now he had become a good person altogether.

Peddler always felt lonely. While facing the hardships of life, he used to feel that this world is a rat trap and we all are mice. He was scolded and shooed away whenever he went to someone for shelter. Crofter was also living a life of loneliness. There was no one in his house. The condition of his loneliness was that when peddler found him, he gave him a place in the house without asking for his identity. shared food and drink with him & also his secrets. He wanted someone to spend time with him and he could talk openly. His loneliness was like a life imprisonment. The condition of the ironmaster and his daughter was also somewhat like crofter. The ironmaster did not have a wife and sonswere settled abroad. He lived alone with his daughter. Most of his time was spent in the forge and when he went home he felt very lonely. This was the reason why he and his daughter appealed peddler to come to their house and celebrate Christmas together. It is astonishing that despite the stranger being a thief and a vagabond, they gave him a place in the house.

Yeah, I have known about a story where a good deed or an act of kindness has changed a person’s view of the world. This was a story of two classmates Raj and Rahul. This was the first day when they had taken admission in Class 11th in a new school and coincidently they are allotted with sharing the same bench. They both had a great conversation on the first of class. On the second day when Raj went to the class and went to have a seat near his friend, Rahul did not allow him to sit beside him. Then Anuj went to back seat of the class, and there he got one more new friend Diya.While talking with her, Raj asked Diya, “Do you know why Rahul is not talking to me? Diya replied that she listened that someone was telling him that you are a poor guy and belong to a family which is not having good financial condition. So Rahul said that he will not talk to you as you are a poor guy. Raj was very sad that day but time healed his sorrow and he was a good friend of Diya. One day Rahul met with an accident and Raj was the one who had taken him to the hospital for a cure. After coming into his consciousness, Rahul apologized to Raj for what he did.
This is one of the stories which changed Rahul’s view of the world.Now he would never discriminate between person as being rich or poor anywhere in the world.

This story written by Selma is very entertaining. From the very beginning it attracts the attention of all the readers. How he makes rat traps, how he sells and how he makes a living, they seem to be tied in a thread. Going to the crofter’s house and sharing his secrets and the peddler stealing his house sparks interest. The attention of the readers also goes to the side that telling him everything can also be a trick, but it does not happen. Crofter was a simple and wise man who shelters peddler to overcome his loneliness and then shares everything with him. The ironmaster mistakes in recognizing the peddler and then releases his fault next morning. The metaphor of the world being a rattrap saves the situation for the tramp, but the ironmaster wanted to turn him out. His daughter’s comments are quite entertaining and philosophical. She turned the events totally after convincing her father not to let the peddler go on Christmas and gives him a chance and that’s what makes the biggest difference in a thief and deceiver peddler.

At the beginning of this story, the person who makes rattraps and sells them on the streets is called a “peddler”. He is also called “vagabond” by the author because he roams here and there like a vagabond. When he meets crofter, both of them were strangers to each other, hence he is also referred to as“stranger”. In the story he is called as “rattrap peddler” and “tramp” also because he used to walk like wanderer all day long and sell rat traps.For the blacksmiths at the forge he is an “intruder”. When he reaches at ironmaster’s home for stay and Christmas celebration he is referred to as “guest”. He was also called “captain” because the ironmaster had mistaken him for the Captain von Stahle. He has also been given the name of “hungry wretch” because his body and behavior was something like this. Hunger and help were clearly visible in his eyes.

Five other words with a similar meaning are: traipse, lurch, stumble, slog and stamp.