Question 1.Why did the narrator go to Number 46, Marconi Street? Answer: This was the address of Mrs.

Dorling, the woman who had carried the valuable items from the narrators mother to her home giving assurance to keep them in her safe custody during war time. Before dying narrators mother gave this address to the narrator. So the narrator went there to claim the belongings of her mother. Question 2. "I was in a room I knew and did not know", says the narrator in the story 'The Address'. What prompted her to make this observation? Answer: The narrator found her in the midst of things she was familiar with and which she did not want to see again. However, she found these things in a strange atmosphere where everything was lying in a tasteless manner. The ugly furniture and the muggy smell created the feeling as if, she did not know the room. Question 3. "Of all the things I had to forget, that would be the easiest." What does the speaker mean by that? What is its significance in the story? Answer: The word "That" here stands for the address of Mrs. Dorling i.e., Number 46 Marconi Street. The story moves around the address which is also the title of the story. It is significant because, the address was very important for the narrator in the beginning of the story although, at the end she resolves to forget it as she wants to break off with the painful past and move on with the present into the future. Question 4. Who is Mrs. Dorling? Do you justify her behaviour in the story? Answer: Mrs. Dorling is an acquaintance of Mrs. S, the narrators mother. In the story Mrs. Dorling exploits Mrs. Ss fears and insecurity during the war. She insists Mrs. S and took away all her valuable things after giving assurance that she would keep them safe until the war was over. In fact, Mrs. Dorling had no intentions of returning the valuables as she was sure that Mrs. S and her family would not survive the war. So when the narrator, Mrs. Ss daughter, went to Mrs. Dorlings house to claim those articles to which her mothers precious memories were associated, she even pretended not to recognize her. In stead of returning those articles to the narrator, she shamelessly used them which actually belonged to the narrators mother and also behaved rudely to the narrator. So, in the context of the above Mrs. Dorlings behaviour can not be justified. Question 5. Why did the narrator of the story The Address feel that she had rung the wrong bell? How was she then assured that she was at the right place? Answer: When the narrator rung the door bell, a woman appeared half-hidden by the door. She refused to recognize the narrator even though she was told that the narrator was Mrs. Ss daughter. This made the narrator think that she had rung the wrong bell. But the woman remarked Have you come back? I thought that no one had come back. indicated her recognizing the narrator. Also when the narrator saw the lady wearing her mothers knitted green cardigan, the narrator got assured that the lady was Mrs. Dorling and she was at the right place. Question 6. Comment on the significance of the title of the story 'The Address'. OR, Justify the title of the short story The Address. Answer: Marga Minco very aptly titled the story 'The Address'. The narrator and her mother were victims of war. They had to flee from their house leaving all their nice belongings with Mrs. Dorling after getting an assurance from her for the safe custody of those things during the war. The narrators mother had told the address of Mrs. Dorling 46, Marconi Street to her daughter before she died during the war. When the war was over the narrator came back and went to Mrs. Dorlings address in search of those 'nice things' with which the fond memories of her mother were associated. But when the

narrator reached there, she found all those things were lying in a very tastelessmanner. Mrs. Dorling even pretends not to recognize her nor did she show any intention of returning those articles which she was using shamelessly. Sadly then the narrator feels this address has no meaning at all as the precious memories of the true owner were no longer cherished at their new address. The narrator in the end resolves to forget 46, Marconi Street forever. Hence, the title The Address is quite appropriate and bears a definite meaning for the story.