Page 1 - Assignment

The Rattrap

Short Questions

a. From where did the peddler get the idea of the world being a rattrap?
b. Why was he amused by this idea?
c. Did the peddler expect the kind of hospitality that he received from the
crofter?
d. Why was the crofter so talkative and friendly with the peddler?
e. Why did he show the thirty kroner to the peddler?
f. Did the peddler respect the confidence reposed in him by the crofter?
g. Who was the owner of the Ramsjo iron mills? Why did he visit the mills every
night?
h. Why did the ironmaster speak kindly to the peddler and invite him home?
i. Why did the peddler decline the invitation?
j. What made the peddler accept Edla Willmansson’s invitation?
k. What doubts did Edla have about the peddler?
l. When did the ironmaster realise his mistake?
m. What did the peddler say in his defence when it was clear that he was not the
person the ironmaster had thought he was?
n. Why did Edla still entertain the peddler even after she knew the truth about
him?
o. Why was Edla happy to see the gift left by the peddler?
p. Why did the peddler sign himself as Captain von Stahle?

Long Questions

1. The peddler declined the invitation of the ironmaster but accepted one from Edla.
Why?
2. 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?
3. The peddler believed that the whole world is a rattrap. How did he himself get
caught in the same?
4. The peddler thinks that the whole world is a rattrap. This view of life is true only
of himself and no one else in the story. Comment.
5. What are the instances in the story that show that the character of the
ironmaster is different from that of his daughter in many ways?
6. The reader’s sympathy is with the peddler right from the beginning of the story.
Why is this so? Is the sympathy justified?