The Postmaster Short Story

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The Postmaster was posted in a village called Ulapur. He belonged to Calcutta and hence felt like a fish out of water in the small village. He earned a meager salary with which he cooked meals. Neither did he have any friends to talk to nor did he have anything to do thus he engaged himself in poetry. An orphan girl named Ratan helped the postmaster with his daily chores. They used to sit for hours together, discussing about each other’s families and she would relate to his family as her own.Ratan always referred to the postmaster as “Dada”. She helped him cook his meals and never took anything in return except for a little bit of food. One afternoon, when the postmaster had nothing to do, he decided to teach Ratan how to read. In a very short time ratan had gotten as far as double consonants. She …show more content…

The postmaster laughed at the absurdity of the question. The next day he reassured Ratan not to worry, as he would ask his successor to take good care of her. She was not willing to accept any of this and told the postmaster that he shouldn’tworry,as she doesn’t want to stay there anymore.When the postmaster was ready for his departure, he gave ratan a month’s salary. She started crying and told him that she doesn’t want him to take any troubles for her and ran out of sight. Even though the postmaster had an impulse to go back, he left and carried on with his life whereas Ratan wandered about the post office, crying with hope that her Dada might return. ANALYSIS 1. The title ‘Postmaster’ represents a patriarchal society as the postmaster fails to recognize the relationship he has with Ratan and the effect he has on her life. Postmaster is like family to Ratan, whereas for him, she is a mere house help. He cannot imagine a relationship with a woman other than a conventional one. 2. Both of them are emotionally dependent on eachother due to their loneliness. They support and help each other get through daily

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