The Rattrap
The peddler thinks that the whole world is a rattrap. This view of life is true only of himself and of no one else in the story. Comment.
The life of the peddler is bound with loneliness. This idea of being completely alone made the peddler a pessimist. After stealing the money, the peddler tried to escape through the forest but got lost. Left in despair, he recollected his own thoughts on the world being a giant rattrap. A sudden realization came to him that he had finally got himself caught in the rattrap because he allowed himself to be tempted by the bait, the thirty kronor bills. Even the kindness of the ironmaster and especially his daughter failed to make the peddler optimistic about the world. Unlike the other characters in the story, peddler is the only one who got succumbed to loneliness and is far away from the human bonds of love and sympathy that made him the cynic and consider the world as a rattrap.
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What made the peddler think that he had indeed fallen into a rattrap?
Why did the ironmaster speak kindly to the peddler and invite him home?
Why did the peddler decline the invitation?
What made the peddler accept Edla Willmansson’s invitation?
Or
Having rejected the ironmaster’s invitation. Why did the peddler accept the one extended by his daughter?
What doubts did Edla have about the peddler?
When did the ironmaster realize his mistake?
What did the peddler say in his defence when it was clear that he was not the person the Ironmaster had thought he was?
Why did Edla still entertain the peddler even after she knew the truth about him?
Why was Edla happy to see the gift left by the peddler?
Why did the peddler sign himself as Captain Von Stahle?
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