Question

Answer the following equations briefly:

1. Who was Ali? Where did he go daily?

2. “Ali displays qualities of love and patience.” Give evidence from the story to support the statement.

3. How do you know Ali was a familiar figure at the post office?

4. Why did Ali give up hunting?

5. What impression do you form of the postmaster after reading the story, ‘The Letter’?

6. The postmaster says to Ali, “What a pest you are, brother!” Do you agree with the statement? Give reasons for your answer.

7. Ali came out very slowly, turning after every few steps to gaze at the post office. His eyes were filled with tears of helplessness, for his patience was exhausted, even though he still had faith. Why were Ali’s eyes filled with tears of helplessness? What had exhausted his patience? How/why was his faith still intact?

8. Tortured by doubt and remorse, he sat down in the glow of the charcoal sigri to wait. Who is tortured by doubt and remorse? Why? What is he waiting for?

Answer 1

1. Ali was an old shikari. He went daily to the post office.

2. Ali’s daughter Miriam had left him after her marriage. It was his love for his daughter that kept him alive. He did not get any news of her for five years. During this time, he would go out to the post office daily, in anticipation of a letter from her. Despite going back empty handed, he kept re-appearing at the post office every morning, patiently waiting for the moment when the letter from his daughter would be delivered to him.

3. Ali was a familiar figure at the post office. He would go there daily, in anticipation of a letter from his daughter. A clerk describes Ali as “a mad man”, who kept calling everyday for letters that never came. People would laugh at him on coming to know of his strange habit. The postmen would make fun of him by calling out his name even though there were no letters for him, just so they could see him jump up and come to the door.

4.After his daughter Miriam had married and left, Ali could no longer enjoy hunting. His loneliness made him realise the meaning of love and separation. He could no longer laugh at and derive pleasure from “the bewildered terror of the young partridges bereft of their parents”.

5. In the story, the postmaster is shown to be hard-hearted and strict. He is a man of few words. At first, he sees Ali through the eyes of the other people at the post office. The presence of Ali irritates him. Later, he undergoes transformation when his own daughter falls ill and he lies in wait for some news from her. He then begins to see Ali through the eyes of a father.

6. Though the postmaster was wrong in treating Ali harshly, his calling Ali a “pest” is understandable. Ali’s regular and persistent presence at the post office would have been irritating to anyone.

7. Ali’s eyes were filled with tears of helplessness because he was aware he had neared his end and he still had not received any letter from Miriam.

His patience was exhausted by the harsh treatment of the postmaster and the indifference of the clerks. His faith was still intact because he believed in God and knew that Miriam would write to him one day.

8. The postmaster was tortured by doubt and remorse.

The doubt was regarding his daughter’s health. He was filled with remorse as he had realised that he had treated Ali harshly.

He was waiting for a letter from his daughter who was down with some illness in another town.