Extra Question of 'The Letter'

                                        Short Answer Type Questions

1.     Where was Ali's daughter?

Ans. Ali's daughter Miriam got married to a soldier and went to Punjab. Ali had no idea where she              was. All that he knew was that she was somewhere in Punjab. He did not have the address so he          himself couldn't write her.

2.      Why did the old man visit the post office every day?

Ans. Ali went to post office to wait for a letter from his daughter Miriam. He thought that Miriam               would write him a letter. He visited the post office before dawn and was the first person to reach         there.

3.     What did the reason behind Ali's change of attitude?

Ans. When Ali's daughter Miriam got married to a soldier in Punjab, he realized the futility of life                and realized that the whole life is made up of love and the grief of separation is inescapable.

4.     Why did Ali not come to the post for office for many days?

Ans. Ali was not well and he had nobody to look after him. He religiously visited the post office but            his illness kept him away from visiting the post office.

5.      What was the reaction of the people of the post office on Ali's absence?

Ans. People did not have any concern, sympathy or understanding for the old man but they were                  curious to know the reason of his absence. They all kept on gossiping about him but no one                  bothered to go and inquire about him.

6.      "For now the postmaster understood Ali's heart and his very soul." Explain.

Ans. The postmaster understood Ali's heart and soul when his daughter lay ill i another town, and he           was anxiously waiting for news from her. This worry and anxiety for her daughter change the             postmaster. He understood Ali,s heart and soul and his yearning for his daughter.

7.     Why was Ali filled with joy when he reached the post office?

Ans. Ali was filled with joy everytime he reached the post office because he had grown old and it was         really hard for him to travel the long distance from his house to the post office. Moreover the               building of the post office was like a place of pilgrimage for him.

8.     How did Ali react when the postmaster behaved very rudely with him?

Ans. When the postmaster called Ali a pest and spoke very rudely and coldly to him asking him to go         away, Ali came out slowly and gazed at a post office. His eyes were filled with tears of                         hopelessness. His patience was exhausted. Yet he had hope that one day he would hear from               Miriam. He felt totally broken from within.

9.     Who was Ali? What did he do when he was young?

Ans. Ali is the central character of the story. Ali had been a clever hunter in his youth. When Ali                  sighted the earth-brown partridge, the poor bird was as good as in his bag. His sharp eyes would          see the hare crouching in the yellow brown scrub and in another moment it was dead.

10.    What were Ali's reason for giving up hunting?

Ans. Ali earned his living by hunting animals. He was a clever shikari and it was impossible for him            to pass a day without hunting. He used to hunt for fun as well as to earn his living. Ali stopped            hunting when his daughter Miriam got married and went to Punjab with her husband. He                      understood the meaning of love and separation.