Skip to main content

Summary of The Address

The Address
The story The Address is all about human predicament that follows war. The story narrates how a daughter goes to her native place in Holland in search of her mother's belongings after the war.
In the beginning of the story it is narrated how the protagonist was given a cold reception when she went to her native place after the war in search of her mother's belongings. After ringing the bell of House Number 46 in Marconi Street, a woman opened the door. On being introduced,the woman kept staring at her in silence. There was no sign of recognition on her face. The woman was wearing her mother's green knitted cardigan. The narrator could understand that she had made no mistake. She asked the woman whether she knew her mother. The woman could not deny this. The narrator wanted to talk to her for sometime. But the woman cautiously closed the door. The narrator stopped there for sometime and then left the place.
In the subsequent sections, the memories of  the narrator's bygone days come to light. Her mother had provided the address years ago during the war. She went to home for few days. She could find that various things were missing. At that time her mother told her about Mrs Dorling. She happened to be an old acquaintance of the narrator's mother. Lately she had renewed contact with her and had been coming there regularly. Every time she left their house she took something home with her. She told that she wanted to save all their nice possessions. The next day the narrator saw Mrs Dorling going out of their house with a heavy suitcase. She had a fleeting glimpse of Mrs Dorling's face. She asked her mother whether the woman lived far away. At that time the narrator's mother told about the address: Number 46,Marconi Street. After many days the after the war,the narrator was curious to take record of the possessions that must still be at Number 46, Marconi Street. With this intention she went to the given address.
The concluding part of the story describes the second visit of the narrator. As the narrator's first visit yielded no result so she planned to go once again. Interestingly, a girl of fifteen opened the door to her. Her mother was not at home. The narrator expressed her wish to wait for her. The girl accompanied her to the passage. The narrator saw an old fashioned iron candle holder hanging next to a mirror. The girl made her sit in the living room and went inside. The narrator was horrified to find herself in a room she knew and did not know. She found herself in the midst of familiar things which she longed to see again but which troubled her in the strange atmosphere. She had no courage to look around her. But she no longer had desire to possess them. She got up, walked to the door, and left the room. She resolved to forget the address and moved on.

Comments

Most Viewed Posts

Summary of The Enemy - Pearl S. Buck

THE ENEMY                                  - Pearl S. Buck Dr. Sadao – a surgeon and scientist Dr Sadao Hoki, a Japanese surgeon and scientist, lived with his wife Hana and two children on the Japanese sea-coast. His house was located on the sea-coast where he had spent his childhood. He was greatly influenced by his father whose chief concern was Sadao’s education. At the age of twenty-two, he was sent to America to study surgery and medicine. Sadao too, as an obedient son, fulfilled his father’s wishes and came back a famous surgeon and scientist to serve his nation and people. Although there was a war going on, he was not sent abroad with the troops for two reasons – he was perfecting a discovery on wounds and the old General might need him for an operation. Hana – a dedicated wife With his father’s consent, Dr. Sadao had a love marriage with Hana whom he met in America. They now had two children. Hana was a devoted wife and a sympathetic woman. She kept the

Summary of Evans Tries an O-level - Colin Dexter

EVANS TRIES AN O-LEVEL                                                 - Colin Dexter An unusual request from a prisoner In early March, the Secretary of the Examinations Board gets a call from the Governor of HM Prison in Oxford. The call is regarding a prisoner at Oxford Prison. The prisoner, James Roderick Evans, has been taking night classes in O-level German since last September and now aspires to write the exam to add to his education qualification. The Governor informs the Secretary that Evans is a congenital kleptomaniac but has a pleasant personality and no record of violence. As Evans is in a cell of his own, he can sit for his exam there itself. The call ends with the decision to get a parson from St. Mary Mags to invigilate and to keep the prisoner incommunicado during the exam. ‘Evans the Break’ – a bonafide test taker? Evans has escaped from the prison thrice before he came to Oxford Prison. For this reason, the prison officers call him ‘Evans the B

Summary of Memories of Childhood - The Cutting of My Long Hair - Zitkala-Sa and We Too are Human Beings - Bama

MEMORIES OF CHILDHOOD This lesson presents the idea of marginalization from the perspective of two women, Zitkala-Sa and Bama, as they walk down the memory lane to the episodes that had significant influence on their lives. I. The Cutting of My Long Hair (Zitkala-Sa) The raucous cage The author narrates the incidents of the agonizing first day of her new boarding school life as a Native American. The day was bitterly cold and she was aghast to find herself amidst the chaos of the annoying loud noises of the ringing bell, clattering shoes and ceaseless murmuring in English, the language which was still “unknown” to her. In that new place, she fell prey to the European missionaries who were prejudiced and biased against the Native American clan. Caught in this strange new world, she yearned for her “lost freedom”. Discipline of the dining hall The ringing bell was an indication for breakfast. As Zitkala-Sa entered the room in a line with her Indian counterparts, who

Summary of Indigo - Louis Fischer

INDIGO                              – Louis Fischer The author visits Sevagram Fischer visited Sevagram, the ashram of Gandhi, in 1942. There, Gandhi revealed the reason behind the decision to urge the departure of the British, in 1917. A Champaran peasant and his request In 1916, Gandhi attended the annual convention of the Indian National Congress in Lucknow. During the proceedings, an illiterate peasant, Rajkumar Shukla, approached Gandhi and requested him to visit his district. He was one of the sharecroppers of Champaran, who had come to appeal against the injustice of the landlord system in Bihar. The peasant accompanied Gandhi everywhere he went and unrelentingly begged him to ‘fix a date’ for his visit to Champaran. In due course, Gandhi, impressed by the determination and the woeful tale of the peasant, consented to his request and asked him to meet in Calcutta. Gandhi’s visit to Rajendra Prasad’s house At an appointed time, the duo boarded a train to Pa

Summary of On the Face of It - Susan Hill

ON THE FACE OF IT                                   - Susan Hill Scene one Lonely Derry avoids people Fourteen-year-old Derry, in an attempt to hide from the hustle-bustle and yet unfriendly world, jumps over the wall to Mr. Lamb’s garden. Unaware of Mr. Lamb’s presence, Derry stumbles upon him and is dumbfounded as he expected the house as well the garden to be unoccupied. Derry has a distorted face, a side of which was burnt by acid, and this crushed his self-confidence. Unconcerned about the way he looked, Mr. Lamb easily starts a conversation with the boy. The friendly Mr. Lamb Mr. Lamb, even without knowing him or his name, considers Derry as a friend.  The play highlights how he kept the gate of the garden always open, welcoming everyone. His house did not have any curtains as he did not like “shutting things out, shutting things in”. While talking to Derry, he said, “what’s mine is anybody’s” which depicts that he did not mind sharing. The old man liked