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Themes and Analysis of "The Rattrap"

The document provides background information on author Selma Lagerlöf and the historical context of her short story "The Rattrap", which is set in rural 19th century Sweden. The story centers around themes of human kindness transforming a cynical peddler. It explores how loneliness and lack of community negatively impact the peddler, driving him to steal, but how a small act of kindness from Edla Willmansson on Christmas Eve changes his outlook and frees him from seeing the world as "one big rattrap". 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.

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Shivam Singh
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446 views3 pages

Themes and Analysis of "The Rattrap"

The document provides background information on author Selma Lagerlöf and the historical context of her short story "The Rattrap", which is set in rural 19th century Sweden. The story centers around themes of human kindness transforming a cynical peddler. It explores how loneliness and lack of community negatively impact the peddler, driving him to steal, but how a small act of kindness from Edla Willmansson on Christmas Eve changes his outlook and frees him from seeing the world as "one big rattrap". 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.

Uploaded by

Shivam Singh
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
  • Introduction to Selma Lagerlöf
  • Historical Context of The Rattrap
  • Theme of the Lesson: Human Kindness
  • Trust vs. Cynicism
  • Message
  • Study Questions
  • Loneliness and Companionship

THE RATTRAP

--SELMA LAGERLOF

ABOUT THE AUTHOR :

 Selma Lagerlöf, in full Selma Ottiliana Lovisa Lagerlöf, (born Nov. 20, 1858, Mårbacka, Sweden—died
March 16, 1940, Mårbacka), novelist who in 1909 became the first woman and also the first Swedish
writer to win the Nobel Prize for Literature. Selma Lagerlöf's authorship is deeply rooted in folk tales,
legends, and stories from her home district in Värmland County, Sweden. Her début novel, Gösta
Berling's Saga, broke away from the then-prevailing realism and naturalism and is characterized by a
vivid imagination. Even so, her works provide realistic depictions of people's circumstances, ideas, and
social lives during the 19th-century religious revival. Lagerlöf wrote in prose. Her stories characterized
by a captivating descriptive power and their language by purity and clarity.

HISTORICAL CONTEXT OF THE RATTRAP

“The Rattrap” takes place somewhere in rural western Sweden, in a vaguely nostalgic past that is not

specified—but its very vagueness helps give the story its timeless, fairy-tale quality. Still, an ironworks

figures prominently in the work, and its setting relies on the culture of mining and the iron processing

industry dominant in Varmland in the early to mid-1800s. Varmland’s iron trade then faltered in the late

1800s when central Europe and the U.S. became more dominant in the industry, as reflected by the

narrator’s comment that the once-thriving Ramsjö Ironworks is now shut down.

THEME OF THE LESSON:

Human Kindness

“The Rattrap” is a short, almost fairy-tale story that centers around the transforming power of human

kindness. An unnamed peddler of rattraps goes from seeing the world as “one big rattrap” and engaging

in robbery to returning his stolen money and proclaiming himself free—all as a result of experiencing true

kindness and generosity from Edla Willmansson on Christmas Eve.


Trust vs. Cynicism

As “The Rattrap” begins, the homeless peddler is defined by his “rattrap” philosophy of life: that the

world is nothing but a big rattrap that offers “bait” in the form of luxuries and pleasures, and then

ensnares and ruins anyone who reaches for this bait. This is a fundamentally cynical worldview, and one

that the story ultimately undercuts by showing its limitations and offering an alternate philosophy. The

old man seemed to find genuine pleasure in spending an evening with the peddler, playing cards and

talking about his life, and this brief community was only possible because of the old man’s decision to

trust the peddler. To be trusting like Edla or the old crofter is to put oneself at risk, but also to truly enjoy

the company and friendship of others.

Loneliness and Companionship

Connected to the themes of kindness and trust, “The Rattrap” also explores the basic human need for

companionship and community, and shows the negative effects of loneliness, whether as a result of

poverty, cynicism, or unkindness. At the start of the story, the peddler leads an incredibly lonely

existence, and this affects him in extremely negative ways, causing him unhappiness and bitterness, and

driving him to steal from and lie to others.

Message

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.

ANSWER THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS IN BRIEF

[Link] does the peddler feel that the whole world is a rattrap?

[Link] of trust is the worst crime one can commit. How is it true in the case of peddler?

[Link] does the writer bring out the allegory in the lesson when the peddler is trapped in
the forest?
[Link] made the peddler respond to the name Nils Olof?

[Link] shows that Edla was very observant, quick and sharp by nature?

[Link] trait of the daughter is brought out when her father talks about her being worse
than a parson?

[Link] and security is a distant dream even in one’s home. What makes the peddler safe
and secure in the home of ironmaster?

[Link] was Edla’s ‘X’mas gift to the peddler?

[Link] was the peddler’s gift to Edla?

[Link] does he sign as Captain von Sthale?

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