MODERN DELHI INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL

GREATER FARIDABAD

ENGLISH PROJECT FILE

THE RATTRAP : ESSENTIAL GOODNESS CAN BE
AWAKENED THROUGH LOVE AND
UNDERSTANDING
NAME: ABHAY PRATAP SINGH
CLASS: 12-ECO EXPERTS A
ROLL NUMBER:
ADMISSION NO: 4132
SCHOOL: MODERN DELHI INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I would like to extend my sincere and heartfelt
obligation towards all those who have helped me in
making this project. Without their active guidance,
help, cooperation and encouragement, I would not
have been able to present the project on time.
I am extremely thankful and pay my sincere
gratitude to my teacher ....................... for his / her
valuable guidance and support for completion of
this project.
I also acknowledge with deep sense of reverence,
my gratitude towards other faculty members, my
parents and my friends for their valuable
suggestions given to me in completing this project.

DATE :

PLACE :
CERTIFICATE OF COMPLETION

This is to certify that the project work on

........................... based on the curriculum of
CBSE has been completed by ........................
of Class XII, Section ...... of Modern Delhi
International School, Faridabad. The above-
mentioned project work has been completed
under my guidance during the academic year
2023–24

SIGNATURE OF TEACHER
 Index
 Acknowledgement………………………………………….2
 certificAte of completion…………………………………………………3
 index…………………………………………………………………..……….4
 Author’s BiogrAphy…………………………………………………………….5
 theme………………………………………………………………………….6
 summAry………………………………………………………………..….….7
 Character sketch of major
chArActers……………………..………...9
 Significance of letter by rattrap
seller……………………………..…11
 BiBliogrAphy………………………………………………………………13
 AUTHOR’S BIOGRAPHY

Selma Lagerlöf (1858-1940) was born in

Östra Emterwik, Värmland, Sweden. She
was brought up on Mårbacka, the family
estate, which she did not leave until
1881, when she went to a teachers’
college at Stockholm. In 1885 she
became a teacher at the girls’ secondary
school in Landskrona. She had been
writing poetry ever since she was a child,
but she did not publish anything until
1890, when a Swedish weekly gave her
the first prize in a literary competition
and published excerpts from the book
which was to be her first, best, and most popular work. Gösta Berlings Saga was
published in 1891, but went unnoticed until its Danish translation received wide
critical acclaim and paved the way for the book’s lasting success in Sweden and
elsewhere. She travelled in Italy and wrote Antikrists mirakler (1897) [The
Miracles of Antichrist], a novel set in Sicily. After several minor works she
published Jerusalem (1901-1902) [The Holy City], a novel about Swedish
peasants who emigrated to the Holy Land and whom she had visited in 1900.
This work was her first immediate success. A book intended as a primer for
elementary schools became one of the most charming children’s books in any
language: Nils Holgerssons underbara resa genom Sverige (1906) [The
Wonderful Adventures of Nils]. None of her later works matched the power or
success of Gösta Berlings Saga. In the mid-twenties she published the historical
trilogy: Löwensköldska Ringen (1925), Charlotte Löwensköld (1927), and Anna
Svärd (1928) [The Ring of the Löwenskölds, 3 vols.]. She also published several
volumes of reminiscences under the title Mårbacka (1922-32).

Selma Lagerlöf died on March 16, 1940

 THEME

The theme of the story is that most human beings are prone to fall
into the trap of material benefit. However every human being has an
essential goodness that can be awakened through understanding
and love. A human being has tendency to redeem himself from
dishonest ways. It follows the travels of an elderly vagrant who
receives a little rattrap from a generous and caring hostel owner. The
tramp encounters several individuals along the way who, in spite of
their own challenging situations, are kind and generous to him. The
tramp reflects on his own life and actions as a result of this
encounter, which finally inspires him to make amends and improve
himself. The underlying message is that everyone is capable of
change and that even the smallest act of kindness can have a big
impact on someone else’s life.
 SUMMARY

The story begins with a rattrap peddler who is in a rugged condition. He is

dressed in rags and is very frail and looks starved. We learn he has no home and
sometimes even begs and steals to survive in the world. He leads a lonely life
with no one to care about him. One fine day, it strikes to him that this whole
world is a rattrap itself. If we touch it, it will trap us and never let us go. He goes
on to think that there are people out there who are already in this rattrap and
reaching for the bait. On one cold evening, he reaches at a cottage to ask for
shelter. An old crofter lived in that cottage who took in the peddler.

The crofter needed company so he welcomes the peddler. He gives him hot food
and even tobacco to smoke. They play cards and start talking. The peddler learns
that the crofter got thirty kronor for selling his cow which he keeps in a pouch
on the window Page 8 of 13 frame. The peddler leaves the next day but after
seeing the crofter leave his cottage, he comes back to steal the pouch of money.

After stealing it, he takes the woods to remain unsuspected. In the wood, the
peddler meets an ironmaster who mistakes him to be his old comrade. He invites
him over for Christmas but he refuses. After that, the ironmaster’s daughter,
Edla visits him and insists him to stay with them. In between, he feels sorry for
stealing the crofter’s money. They help the peddler get a makeover and dress
him in nice clothes and shave his beard off. After this, the ironmaster realizes he
has made a mistake; the peddler was not his comrade.

Thus, the ironmaster thinks he is a fraud and decides to turn him in. However,
Edla insists on letting him stay and celebrate Christmas with them. Her father
agrees, and they celebrate Christmas together. Next day, the ironmaster and
Edla learn that the peddler was a thief through the church about the incident at
the old crofter’s. They head home in a hurry thinking he must have stolen all the
silver. However, to their surprise, the peddler did not steal a thing. He left a note
for Edla in the form a tiny rattrap. There was also a note thanking her for her
kindness which saved him from the rattrap he got caught in. Most importantly,
he also left the crofter’s money asking to return it to him.
CHARACTER SKETCH OF MAJOR
CHARACTERS
1. The Peddler: The peddler was a beggar who led a nomadic
way of life. He was quite imaginative. He wore rags, had sunken cheeks,
and his eyes gleamed from hunger. He roamed around the town selling
wire rattraps that he made himself. He obtained this wire either through
begging or by stealing. He possessed certain human flaws, such as the
need to steal and beg to meet his basic necessities. He spent his
evenings wherever he could find shelter because he had nowhere to
stay during the day. He believes that the entire universe resembles a
giant rat trap. It merely exists in order to attract others with bait. He
believes that all wealth, happiness, food, clothing, and shelter are
merely traps. The rattrap shuts on the person who touches the bait if
and when he does.

2. The Ironmaster: The Ironmaster was the owner of

Ramsjo Ironworks. He thought the man selling rattraps was an old friend
from the army. He lacked the ability to make accurate conclusions about
others. He was a kind and gentle man. He welcomed the street vendor
to his home to look after him. He gets furious when he realizes that he
had mistaken the stranger to be an old friend. He not only invited the
peddler to spend the night at his house, but also provided him with a
dinner of porridge. It was on his daughter’s insistence that he let the
stranger remain at their house for Christmas festivities. He was a loving
caring father who could see things from his daughter’s perspective.

3. Edla: Edla, the ironmaster’s daughter, is characterised as being “not

at all attractive, but humble and extremely shy. Even after it is
established that the peddler is not Captain von Stahle, she is incredibly
kind, convincing him to come to her house and then persuading her
father to let him stay for Christmas Eve. Edla is more smart and
 observant than her father, as seen by the fact that she can identify the
peddler’s fear and the likelihood that he has done a crime that he is
evading right away. She is the most admirable character in the story and
her kindness and charity bring about a change in the peddler’s heart.

4. The Old Man/The Crofter: The crofter was a

retired ironmaster. He was a kind and caring person as evident from his
offerings to the peddler. He not only allowed the Page 10 of 13 peddler
to stay at his home for the night but also offered him a porridge meal.
He was also a lonely man and was happy to receive the company of the
peddler. He also gave him tobacco to smoke and played cards with him.
In this way, he tried to make the peddler comfortable at his home. It is
also clear from the text that he was a very caring and loving dad who
understands his daughter’s point of view.
 Significance of the letter
written by the rattrap SELLER

The story ‘The Rattrap’ has a very beautiful ending. It helps us to realise that all
is not lost for human beings who are prone to fall into the trap of material
benefits. It is the protagonist of the story—the peddler with the rattraps—who
coins the metaphor of the rattrap, falls himself in it on being tempted and
ultimately redeems himself by renouncing the temptation. His admission that
he had been the thief, and the treatment he got as a captain, show how love
and understanding can transform even a depraved soul. The story thus comes a
full circle with the ending. All questions are answered and no loose tags remain
hanging.
The ending also pays tribute to the goodness of humanity here exhibited
through Miss Edla Willmansson. At the end of the letter he signed himself as
Captain von Stable, because Edla had regarded him as though he was a captain.
He continued that he was a rat that would have been trapped in the Page 12 of
13 rattrap of this planet if he had not been elevated to captain, so he had the
ability to clear himself in that manner. The peddler had never experienced
appreciation in his entire life. The environment always regarded him coldly. He
was honoured and revered for the first time in his life, as if he were a captain.
The daughter tried to handle him in a similar manner, long though the truth was
revealed. The manner in which he was viewed inspired him to act in a similar
way. As Captain von Stahle, he signed the letter to underline the impact of Edla's
goodness on him. The happy ending also arouses our optimism and belief in the
essential goodness of man and other human virtues. Thus, it serves to inspire
the readers to do noble acts.
 BIBLIOGRAPHY

BOOKS:
NCERT TEXTBOOK , FLAMINGO

WEBSITES:
1. https://www.edumple.com/cbse-class-12/english/the-
rattrap/notes
2. https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/literature/1909/lagerlof/bi
ographical/
3. https://www.toppr.com/guides/english/english-flamingo/the-
rattrap-summary