THE RATTRAP -by Selma Lagerlof

INTRODUCTION

The Rattrap is a beautiful story that shows the life transforming power of the human touch. The
story brilliantly captures the effect of a compassionate gesture in bringing out the best in a human
being. It is a story about a rattrap seller who leads a very poor life as his earnings are very low. He
has to resort to thievery and begging to make both ends meet. He is alone in this whole world and
leads a miserable life. So he starts knitting up various kinds of thoughts.

1. THE CROFTER’S HOSPITALITY and THE PEDDLER’S RESPECT

Provided him food and Shelter

Played a game of cards

Shared his secrets

Offered tobacco

Even showed his earnings

The next morning he stole the crofter’s money which he had earned by selling
his cow’s milk.

To safeguard himself, the peddler chose the path through the forest which was
secluded, but soon found himself trapped in the forest as he wasn’t able to find
the way out of the dense forest.

2. THE THEORY HE MADE ABOUT THE WORLD FAILED WHEN HE WAS TESTED

All at once he recalled his thoughts about the world and the rattrap. Now his
own turn had come. He had let himself be fooled by a bait and had been caught.
The whole forest, with its trunks and branches, its thickets and fallen logs,
closed in upon him like an impenetrable prison from which he could never
escape.

3. WHAT HAPPENS AT THE IRON MILL

Later on, he finds a way to a forge and takes shelter there.

During one of the long dark evenings just before Christmas, the master smith
and his helper sat in the dark forge near the furnace waiting for the crude iron,
which had been put in the fire, to be ready to put on the anvil. Every now and
then one of them got up to stir the glowing mass with a long iron bar, returning
in a few moments, dripping with perspiration.

The blacksmiths glanced only casually and indifferently at the intruder. He

looked the way people of his type usually did, with a long beard, dirty, ragged,
and with a bunch of rattraps dangling on his chest.
 In those days the Ramsjo iron mill was owned by a very prominent ironmaster,
whose greatest ambition was to ship out good iron to the market. He watched
both night and day to see that the work was done as well as possible, and at
this very moment he came into the forge on one of his nightly rounds of
inspection.

4. Something unusual happens.

The ironmaster mistakes him as an old friend

PEDDLER’S INTENTION : it occurred to him that if the fine gentleman thought

he was an old acquaintance, he might perhaps throw him a couple of kronor.
Therefore he did not want to undeceive him all at once. Invites him to his
house. The poor peddler rejects the offer due to the fear of being caught. Later
he sends his daughter to invite the peddler and he could not refuse her.

5. THE NEXT DAY –CHRISTMAS EVE

Just as he said this the door opened and the stranger entered. Yes, now he was
truly clean and well dressed. The valet had bathed him, cut his hair, and shaved
him.
Moreover he was dressed in a good-looking suit of clothes which belonged to
the ironmaster. He wore a white shirt and a starched collar and whole shoes.

But although his guest was now so well groomed, the ironmaster did not seem
pleased. He looked at him with puckered brow, and it was easy to understand
that when he had seen the strange fellow in the uncertain reflection from the
furnace he might have made a mistake, but that now, when he stood there in
broad daylight, it was impossible to mistake him for an old acquaintance. “What
does this mean?” he thundered. The stranger made no attempt to dissimulate.
He saw at once that the splendor had come to an end .When he realized his
mistake he scolded him for deceiving [Link] peddler said it was not his fault
and wanted to leave immediately. Edla intervened and told her father that they
would do wrong if they chase away a human being whom they had invited and
promised Christmas cheer.

5. Edla Willmansson’s kindness reformed the peddler. Her kindness, compassion

and generosity killed the thief in him. He gifted her a rattrap. Also, he returned
the three ten kronor notes that he had stolen from the crofter’s house. He
requested her to return the money to the old crofter. He wrote a letter to her,
thanking her for treating him well just like she would have treated a real
captain.

6. The setting plays a very important role in The Rattrap. The physical coldness
and warmth run parallel to the cold and warm treatment the peddler receives .
We see that he becomes vulnerable when he enters the forest after stealing the
thirty kronor from the old man. Hunger and cold push him to the verge of dying
and he can escape his death only by locating the mill and the warmth provided
by the forge of the ironmill. Similarly, the cold manner in which he is treated by
others (especially the ironmaster after his real identity is known) would have
doomed him forever but for Elda’s warm gesture.

7. Elda, the ironmaster’s daughter plays an extremely important part in this

story, not only in terms of her role in the plot but also (and more
importantly) in the development of the theme of the story.
Elda’s character can be understood in relation to those of the old crofter and
her father. All three characters (at least initially) give a very warm treatment to
the peddler. The old man shares his food and the ironmaster his house. Elda on
the other hand understands one of the most basic quality a human being prizes
the most: one’s dignity. Where the old man is kind, Elda is compassionate.
Where he shows sympathy, she displays empathy. This is what sets her apart
and this is what changes the life of the peddler altogether.

THE RATTRAP/ASSIGNMENT/CLASS 12

Q.1 How does the metaphor of the rattrap serve to highlight the human
predicament?
A.1:- The metaphor of rattrap reveals man's helplessness, restlessness and
powerlessness in the face of situations that pursuit of joys and luxuries land
him. Just as the bait of cheese and fork tempt and trap a rat, the peddler yields
to his temptations at the crofter's cottage and then runs like mad to escape.
One cannot see the bars and wires, this rattrap ensnares individual like him so
securely that one cannot escape at all. All aims and ambitions of attaining great
heights remain unfulfilled and one finds himself incapable of wriggling out of
trials and tribulations. Many times, one is not even aware of having been
trapped and thus goes on receding deeper and deeper in to the trap and looses
all chances of deliverance

Q.2 What theory about the world did the peddler discover and how is it
ironical?

A.2 : The peddler in the story ‘The Rattrap’ believed very strongly that this
world was a big rattrap. It offered comforts and joys just like the rattrap offered
food to a rat. As soon as a rat was tempted to touch the bait, it trapped him. In
the same way the food, joys and shelter served as baits to tempt people and get
trapped there after in this world.
But one day he himself was caught in such a trap. One day when he sought
refuge at a crofter’s house, he was treated very nicely by the old man. The old
crofter showed him the money also which he had earned. All the crofter’s
hospitality served as a bait for the peddler as, the next morning, he stole the
money and fled into the forest. He got lost there. So the forest was a big rattrap
into which he had fallen.

Q.3 : How did the peddler feel after robbing the crofter? What course did he adopt
and how did he react to the new situation? What does this reaction reveal?

A.3 : The crofter had treated the peddler with hospitality, and had even reposed
his trust in the poor peddler. Still the peddler robbed him and was quite pleased
with his smartness. However, the fear of getting caught haunted him. So, he
avoided the public highway and turned into the woods. It was a big and
confusing forest, and due to the approaching darkness, the peddler lost his way.
He got exhausted moving around the same place, and was filled with despair. He
began to feel that the forest was like a big rattrap and the thirty kronor he had
stolen were like a bait set to tempt him.

His reaction reveals that he was feeling guilty for having stolen the crofter’s
money. His heart was filled with remorse and self-loathing for his act of
weakness. However ,his thoughts are perhaps also a way of justifying his crime.

Q.4 : How does the peddler respond to the hospitality shown to him by the crofter?

A.4 : One dark evening when the peddler was walking along the road he knocked
on the door of a cottage to seek shelter for the night. To his surprise, he was
welcomed by an old man, the crofter, who lived alone in the cottage. The lonely
crofter was happy to find a man with whom he could talk to. He served the
peddler supper, gave him tobacco and played a game of cards with him. The old
crofter then went to the window and took down a leather pouch. He showed
three then kronor notes to the peddler and put them back. This provided a big
bait for the peddler who was tempted to steal the notes. The peddler
unwillingly allowed himself to be tempted to touch the bait. He stole the money
and thus committed a breach of trust. So he betrayed the confidence reposed in
him by his host and realised that he was himself caught in a rattrap.

Q.5 : Describe the peddler’s interaction with the ironmaster’s daughter. To what
extent was he influenced by her?

A.5 : The peddler first meets Edla Willmansson, the ironmaster’s daughter when
on her father’s insistence, she comes to invite the peddler to the manor house
for Christmas. He was so touched by the sincerity in her voice that he could not
refuse her invitation. Later, she comes to know of the peddler’s real identity but
it does not change her warmth, friendliness and hospitality towards him. She
continues to treat him like a captain and the peddler quite spontaneously, starts
behaving like a real captain. He leaves a rattrap as a Christmas gift for Edla and
encloses a letter of thanks and a note of confession in it. He also leaves behind
the stolen money to be restored to its rightful owner, the crofter, thus
redeeming himself from his dishonest ways. Edla Willmansson’s sympathy,
compassion and understanding gave the peddler an opportunity to redeem and
reform himself.

Q.6 : The story focuses on human loneliness and the need to bond with others.
Explain.

A.6 : All the characters in the story suffer from loneliness and are dull souls.
First of all, the tramp appears to lead a sad, monotonous existence, left to his
own thinking. He is always greeted by sour faces and cold words. The old
crofter’s fate has been somewhat kinder to him. Bereft of his wife and children,
he lives all alone in a cottage by the roadside, and is rather happy to have
visitors around. We also have the ironmaster and his daughter, Edla, who have
no company for Christmas as the ironmaster’s wife is dead and his sons are
settled abroad.

He, with his daughter, are happy to play hosts for his friend. Thus, all of them
are having a strong desire for bonding and comradeship. The crofter is happy to
be friends with the peddler, although only for a night. It is the bonding with the
ironmaster’s daughter that transforms the peddler. The love, understanding and
dignity that he gets from the girl makes him leave his dishonest ways and
redeem himself.

Q.7 : Given his temperament, Edla’s father would have failed in reforming the
peddler. How did Edla succeed?

Or

How are the attitudes of the ironmaster and his daughter different? Support your
answer from the text.

Extra questions: (For practice)

1. From where does the peddler get the idea of the world being a rattrap? Why
was he amused?

2. Why did the iron master speak kindly to him and invite him home?

3. Why did the crofter show him the money?

4. What doubts did Edla have about the peddler?

5. When did the ironmaster realise his mistake and what did he do?

6. Why did the peddler sign himself as Captain Von Stahle?

7. How did the tramp make his living?

8. How did the ironmaster interpret the peddler’s refusal?

9. When did the iron master realise that it was a case of mistaken identity?