Class | Subject | Book | Chapter | Session | Questions covered |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
XI | English | Snapshots (NCERT) | 2 – The Address | 2026-27 | 4 of 4 |
Chapter at a glance
Item | Details |
|---|---|
Author | Marga Minco (Dutch writer, Jewish survivor of the Second World War) |
Setting | Holland, before and after the Second World War (Nazi occupation) |
Characters | The narrator (a young Jewish woman), her mother, Mrs Dorling (an acquaintance), Mrs Dorling’s daughter |
Plot | During the war Mrs Dorling took away the family’s valuable possessions “for safe keeping”. After the war the narrator, the only survivor, visits 46 Marconi Street; Mrs Dorling refuses to let her in. On a second visit the daughter lets her in; she sees her mother’s things used carelessly in strange surroundings and decides to forget the address |
Themes | Human predicament after war, greed and betrayal, loss, memory |
Exercise Questions
‘Have you come back?’ said the woman. ‘I thought that no one had come back.’ Does this statement give some clue about the story? If yes, what is it?
Answer
Answer
Yes. Mrs Dorling’s words reveal that she believed the narrator’s whole family had died during the war (in the Nazi persecution of Jews), and that no one would return to claim the belongings she had taken. They also show her greed and dishonesty: she was not pleased to see the narrator and did not want to return the goods, which is why she kept the door half-closed and refused to let her in. The statement hints at the tragedy of the war and the betrayal at the heart of the story.
Yes; it shows Mrs Dorling assumed the family had perished in the war and that no one would come back for their possessions — revealing both the war’s tragedy and her greed.
The story is divided into pre-War and post-War times. What hardships do you think the girl underwent during these times?
Answer
Answer
Pre-War / during the war
- As Jews under Nazi occupation, the family lived in fear and insecurity; they could be arrested at any time.
- They had to give away their valuable belongings to Mrs Dorling for safe keeping, fearing they would lose everything.
- The narrator lived away from home; her mother (and family) died, probably in a concentration camp.
Post-War
- She returned as the only survivor, alone, living in a small rented room with black-out paper still hanging on the windows.
- She faced poverty and the loss of her home and loved ones.
- She was rejected and humiliated by Mrs Dorling, who refused to return her mother’s possessions.
- She suffered the emotional pain of seeing her family’s cherished things in strange surroundings, and had to forget her past.
During the war she lived in fear as a Jew, lost her home and family and parted with their belongings; after the war she returned alone and poor, lived in a small rented room, and was turned away by Mrs Dorling.
Why did the narrator of the story want to forget the address?
Answer
Answer
When she finally saw her mother’s things — the tablecloth with the burn mark, the pewter plate, the silver cutlery — in Mrs Dorling’s house, they seemed strange and lifeless. She realised that objects linked with memories of the familiar life of former times lose their value when, severed from that life, you see them again in strange surroundings. Besides, she had no place for them in her small rented room. Taking them back would not bring back her mother or her old life; seeing them only caused pain. So she decided to forget the address — “of all the things I had to forget, that would be the easiest.”
Because her mother’s belongings, seen in strange surroundings, had lost their meaning and only revived painful memories; they could not bring back her past, so she chose to forget the address.
‘The Address’ is a story of human predicament that follows war. Comment.
Answer
Answer
The story shows the suffering war leaves behind:
- Loss of loved ones: the narrator’s mother and family perished; she is the sole survivor.
- Loss of home and identity: she has no house; her family’s possessions are scattered.
- Betrayal and greed: people like Mrs Dorling took advantage of the victims’ misery, keeping their valuables and assuming no one would return.
- Poverty and loneliness: the narrator lives in a small rented room, with reminders of the war (black-out paper) still around her.
- Emotional trauma: memories become painful; she must forget the past in order to live.
Through a simple incident, Marga Minco shows that war destroys not only lives and property but also trust, relationships and the meaning of the past. Hence it is a story of the human predicament after war.
It depicts war’s aftermath — death of loved ones, loss of home, poverty, loneliness, betrayal by greedy acquaintances and painful memories that the survivor must forget.
Topic checklist
- Plot: visits to 46 Marconi Street
- Character of Mrs Dorling and the narrator
- Significance of the title
- War, memory and loss