The Address
By Marga Minco
The paragraph:-
I had remembered it. But I had waited a long time to go there. Initially after the Liberation I was absolutely not
interested in all that stored stuff, and naturally I was also rather afraid of it. Afraid of being confronted with things
that had belonged to a connection that no longer existed; which were hidden away in cupboards and boxes and
waiting in vain until they were put back in their place again; which had endured all those years because they
were ‘things.’
But gradually everything became more normal again. Bread was getting to be a lighter colour, there was a bed
you could sleep in unthreatened, a room with a view you were more used to glancing at each day. And one day I
noticed I was curious about all the possessions that must still be at that address. I wanted to see them, touch,
remember.
After my first visit in vain to Mrs Dorling’s house I decided to try a second time. Now a girl of about fifteen
opened the door to me. I asked her if her mother was at home.
‘No’ she said, ‘my mother’s doing an errand.’
‘No matter,’ I said, ‘I’ll wait for her
Explanation
She remembered the address but she took too long to visit the place. After the freedom, she
was on one hand, not interested and on the other, was afraid. She was afraid of getting
confronted with the past memories and connections that no longer existed. Connections were
hidden in cupboards and boxes. It seemed that those memories were waiting in vain to put
them back to their places as they had suffered all these years because they were only things.
Things were getting normal in the Protagonist’s life, but one day, she got curious about all the
things that were still at that address. She wanted to see them and touch them. After the first
hopeless visit, she decided to try one more time.
When she reached Mrs Morling’s home, a girl of fifteen years opened the door. Protagonist
asked her about her mother. She told her that she was outside doing some errands to which
the protagonist decided that she would wait for her.
Paragraph 2:-
I followed the girl along the passage. An old-fashioned iron Hanukkah candle holder hung next to a mirror. We
never used it because it was much more cumbersome than a single candlestick.
‘Won’t you sit down?’ asked the girl. She held open the door of the living room and I went inside past her. I
stopped, horrified. I was in a room I knew and did not know. I found myself in the midst of things I did want to
see again but which oppressed me in the strange atmosphere. Or because of the tasteless way everything was
arranged, because of the ugly furniture or the muggy smell that hung there, I don’t know; but I scarcely dared to
look around me. The girl moved a chair. I sat down and stared at the woolen tablecloth. I rubbed it. My fingers
grew warm from rubbing. I followed the lines of the pattern. Somewhere on the edge there should be a burn
mark that had never been repaired.
‘My mother’ll be back soon,’ said the girl. ‘I’ve already made tea for her. Will you have a cup?’
‘Thank you.’
Explanation:-
The protagonist followed the girl along the passage. There was a Hanukkah candle holder
hung next to a mirror. She remembered that she never used it as it was unmanageable.
The girl asked her to sit down as she opened the door to the living room. She stopped and
she was disturbed. She was standing in a room which she knew and she didn’t. She was
standing in the middle of things that she didn’t want to see and they burdened her. Maybe
because of the way things were arranged, or the humid smell in the room, or the ugly
furniture, she was scared to look at everything. She sat down on a chair which the girl
pulled out for her. She looked at the woolen table cloth. She rubbed it and her fingers felt
warm. As she followed the lines of the pattern, she remembered a burn mark that was
never repaired. The girl told her that her mother would be back soon and asked if she
would like to have a cup of tea. She answered thank you.
Vocabulary Time!!
Liberation – Liberty or
Freeing Midst – middle
Endured – suffered Muggy – humid
Vain – hopeless
Hanukkah – The Feast of
Lights, a Hebrew festival
in December
Cumbersome –
unmanageable
