Index

1. Acknowledgement
2. About the Author
3. About the Rattrap
4. Character Sketches
5. Theme
6. Summary
7. Moral of the story
8. Conclusion
9. Bibliography
 Acknowledgement
I'm Sudhanshu Yadav of Class 12th Section B1 S.R.
Global School Would Like to express my Sincere
Gratitude to our Respected Principal Mrs. C.K. Ojha sir
for Encouragement and help from Time to Time during
my Tenure as a Student of Class 12th Section B1.
I also express my Sincere Gratitude towards My
English Teacher Mr. Shahzad Ahmad sir for helping
me in completing the Project by useful Ideas and
Guidelines. I thank him for encouraging me
throughout and helping in all possible ways.
I also thank my parents and friends for their vital
support and also for Encouragement and Motivation
given to me for the completion of the project
 Character Sketch
A tiny ensemble of individuals, each with
owncharacteristics and objectives make up the
story‘RATTRAP”.

1.Peddler:-
He was a beggar who led a nomadic way of life. Hewas
quite imaginative. He wore rags, had sunkencheeks, and
his eyes gleamed from hunger. Heroamed around the
town selling wire rattraps thathe made himself. He
obtained this wire eitherthrough begging or by stealing.
He possessedcertain human flaws, such as the need to
steal andbeg to meet his basic necessities. He spent
hisevenings wherever he could find shelter becausehe
had nowhere to stay during the day. Hebelieves that the
entire universe resembles a giantrat trap. It merely exists
in order to attract otherswith bait. He believes that all
wealth, happiness,food, clothing, and shelter are merely
traps. Therattrap shuts on the person who touches the
bait if and when he does.

2.Ironmaster:-
He was the owner of Ramsjo Ironworks. Hethought the
man selling rattraps was an old friendfrom the army. He
lacked the ability to makeaccurate conclusions about
others. He was a kindand gentle man. He welcomed the
street vendor tohis home to look after him. He gets
furious whenhe realizes that he had mistaken the
stranger to bean old friend. He not only invited the
peddler tospend the night at his house, but also
providedhim with a dinner of porridge. It was on
hisdaughter’s insistence that he let the strangerremain at
their house for Christmas festivities. Hewas a loving
caring father who could see thingsfrom his daughter’s
perspective.

3.Edla:-
She was the ironmaster’s daughter, ischaracterised as
being “not at all attractive, buthumble and extremely shy.
Even after it isestablished that the peddler is not Captain
vonStahle, she is incredibly kind, convincing him tocome
to her house and then persuading her fatherto let him
stay for Christmas Eve. Edla is moresmart and observant
than her father, as seen bythe fact that she can identify
the peddler’s fear andthe likelihood that he has done a
crime that he isevading right away. She is the most
admirablecharacter in the story and her kindness
andcharity bring about a change in the
peddler’sheart.The plot and concepts of the story are
developedwith the help of each character in an essential
way.Their interaction with one another highlights
thecomplexity of human nature as well as the value
oflove and compassion.

THEME
Theme of the story is that most human beings areprone
to fall into the trap of material benefit.However every
human being has an essentialgoodness that can be
awakened throughunderstanding and love. A human
being has thetendency to redeem himself from dishonest
ways.The theme is developed with the help of
themetaphor of the rattrap. The peddler of rattrapscalls
the world a big rattrap. The material benefitslike riches
and joys shelter and food heat andclothing are
temptations that that allure a person tofall into the
rattrap of the world exactly as the bait of cheese and
pork attract a rat to fall into the rattrap.Once someone
takes the bait the world closes in onhim and then
everything is lost. The peddler istempted by the thirty
kronors of the old crofter. Hesteals the money. Now he is
afraid of being caughtand moves through the woods. It is
the kindsympathetic loving and generous treatment
given byEdla Willmansson that helps him get himself
freefrom the rattrap of the world.

Summary
The Rattrap begins by introducing the rattrap sellerwho
wanders, collecting junk from here and there toput
together and turn into functional rat traps. Oneday, a
stranger whose cottage door he knocks onallows him to
stay the night. The man served the rattrap seller porridge
with a pipe of tobacco, and theyplayed games. The host
explained that he worked atan ironworks factory earlier,
but now his onlysource of income was his cow. He
showed his guestthe thirty kronor he had earned the
previous monththat he hung in a pouch by the window of
hiscottage.The rat trap seller goes about his way when his
hostleaves in the morning to tend to his cow.
However,the rat trap seller returns to steal the money in
thepouch by breaking the window a little while later.After
this, he stumbles through the forest, avoidingthe highway
to be on the safe side, all the whilethinking about how he
allowed himself to fall intothe world’s rat trap of
materialistic things likemoney (the thirty kronors he
stole).He eventually lies down on the ground, which
wasextremely cold because the story is set in
lateDecember. On top of this, his clothes were
mostlyrags, so it was even colder for him. However, as
helaid his head down, he heard the sound of the iron mill
nearby and followed it. When he arrived, peoplewere
sitting by the warmth of the furnace. No onebothered to
object to his being there, so he sat withthem.The owner
of the mill came by in the meantime to dohis evening
rounds, and upon seeing the tramp, hemistook him for
an old comrade, Nils Olof. Thetramp had a beard and
scraggly hair, so it was easyto mistake him for other
people. The tramp did notdeny this, thinking he would
get some more money if he went with it. However, when
the owner invitedhim to the manor, he declined, out of
what the ownerthought was an embarrassment. Soon
after, theowner’s daughter came to attempt to bring
thetramp to the house in the name of Christmas Eve,and
he had to oblige.At the manor, the rat trap seller was
given a bath, ahaircut, a shave and fresh clothes in the
hope thathis embarrassment coming from his condition
wouldalso wash off with his filth. However, when he
wentinto the dining room, the ironmaster
immediatelyrealized that the tramp was not Nils Olof! He
wasfurious and asked the man to leave immediately
lesthe calls the sheriff. The tramp explained his
theoryabout the world being a rat trap, so he was
excused.The daughter had her father allow him to stay,
and the man looked like he needed a hearty meal
andsome sleep.At the Christmas mass, while the tramp
still slept,the family found out about the stolen money.
Onreturning to the manor, the rat trap seller hadalready
gone on his way. However, he did leavebehind a
Christmas present for the daughter - thethirty kronor to
return to the man in the cottage bythe roadside, as
written by him in a letter with it;Because he was treated
with respect, he returnedthe respect.

Moral of The Story:-

the author Selma Lagerlof conveys adefinite message.
The story has a universal appeal.The essential goodness
in a human being never dies.It can be awakened through
understanding and love. Miss Edla awakens the basic
goodness of thepeddler. He is transformed into a noble
person in theend..

Conclusion
The story “The Rattrap” has a very beautiful ending.It
helps us to realise that all is not lost for humanbeings
who are prone to fall into the trap of materialbenefits it is
a protagonist of the story – the peddlerwith the rattraps
– who coins the metaphor of therattrap, falls himself in it
on being tempted andultimately redeems himself by
renouncing thetemptation. His admission that he had
been the thiefand the treatment he got as a captain,
shows howlove and understanding can transform even
adepraved soul. The story thus comes a full circlewith the
ending. All questions are answered and noloose tags
remain hanging. The ending also paystribute to the
goodness of humanity here exhibitedthrough Miss Edla
Willmanson. The happy endingalso arouses our optimism
and belief in the essentialgoodness of man and other
human virtues. Thus, itserves to inspire the readers to
the noble acts.
 BIBLIOGRAPHY
For successfully completing my project file. I havedone
this project with the help of the following
1.Wikipedia
2.Class XII Textbook- Flamingo
3.Learn CBSC
4.Topper
5.Arihant All in One Index