The Rattrap Class 12 English Exam Questions

Please refer to the below The Rattrap important questions for Class 12 English. These questions and answers have been prepared as per the latest NCERT Book for Class 12 English. Students should go through chapter wise Class 12 English Important Questions designed as per the latest examination pattern issued by CBSE. 

Chapter Summary of The Rattrap

• The peddler was a vagabond who sold rattraps with a little thievery on the side to make both ends meet. Had no worldly possession to call his own, not even a name.

• It amused him to think of the world as a rattrap and all the material possessions as bait. The world, he felt, was never kind to him. Moreover, he prided himself in the fact that he was out of it.

• Takes shelter at a crofter’s cottage. The crofter welcomed him, gave him dinner, shared his pipe, played mjolis with him also confided in him about his income and showed him where he put it.

• Next morning, the Peddler stole the money and took the back roads to keep away from people and got lost in the jungle at night. While wandering in the forest, he realized that he had also got caught in the rattrap and that the money was the bait.

• Finally reached Ramsjo ironworks, where he took shelter for the night. The blacksmith and his assistant ignored him but the master mistook him to be an old acquaintance and invited him home.

• Though the Peddler didn’t correct the ironmaster, hoping to get some money out of him, he declines his invitation.

• The ironmaster then sent his daughter who persuaded him to go home with her. She noticed his uncouth appearance and thought that he had either stolen something or escaped from jail.

• The Peddler was scrubbed, bathed, given a haircut, a shave and a suit of the ironmaster.

• In the morning light, the iron master realized his mistake that paddler was not the Captain. He wanted to call the Sheriff. The peddler got agitated and put his philosophy before ironmaster that the world is rattrap and he too was sure to be caught in it. The ironmaster was amused but ordered him to leave. The compassionate Edla convinced her father that he should be allowed to spend the Christmas day with them.

• The Peddler spent the whole of Christmas Eve eating and sleeping. The next day at church, Edla and her father came to know that the Peddler was a thief who stole thirty kroner from the poor crofter.

• Back home, they found a letter addressed to Edla, signed as Captain Von Stahle and a rattrap as a gift from the paddler. In the rattrap were the three ten kronor notes of the crofter.

Question. Why did he show the thirty kroner to the peddler?
Answer. The crofter was a simple and trusting man who craved for a company more than anything else. He wanted to share his joy of earning the money with someone. He got this chance when the peddler turned up to his house one day. Moreover, thinking that the peddler did not believe him, he showed the peddler the thirty kronor bills that he kept in a leather pouch.

Question. Did the peddler expect the kind of hospitality that he received from the crofter?
Answer. No, the peddler did not expect the kind of hospitality that he had received from the crofter. This was because he was generally greeted by harsh, sour and unfriendly faces whenever heknocked on doors and requested for shelter. 

Question. Why was the crofter so talkative and friendly with the peddler?
Answer. The crofter was a lonely fellow who lived alone in a little gray cottage by the roadside. He had no wife or children, and longed for a company and friends. So, when the peddler reached at his doorstep, he was happy to find someone to talk to and felt happy to be relieved of his boredom and monotony. This is the reason he was so talkative and friendly with the peddler.

Question. Why did it please the tramp to compare the world to a rattrap?
Answer. The world was not very kind to the tramp so it gave him unwonted pleasure to think of it as a rattrap.

Question. Why did the tramp sign the letter as Captain Von Stahle?
Answer. The tramp, though illiterate and a thief, found himself raised to the level of a captain through Edla’s kindness and compassion, he got a chance to redeem himself, hence he signed the letter as Captain Von Stahle.

Question. Did the peddler respect the confidence reposed in him by the crofter?
Answer. No, the peddler did not respect the confidence reposed in him by the crofter. In fact, he betrayed his trust by robbing the thirty kroner. But somehow later in the story, his conscience was awakened by his stay with the Willmanssons and he decided to return the money.

Question. From where did the peddler get the idea of the world being a rattrap?
Answer. During one of his usual plodding, the peddler thought on the subject of rattraps. It presented him with the idea of the world being a rattrap and he grew fond of dunking this way.

Question. Why did the peddler sign himself as Captain Van Stahle ?
Answer. The peddler had never known respect throughout his life. He was always treated coldly by the world. For the first time in his life, he was being honored and respected. Even after the truth was exposed, the daughter treated him as before. The behavior he received encouraged him to behave in the similar manner. He signed as Captain Van Stahle so as to underline the impact of Edla’s goodness to him.

Question. Why was he amused by this idea?
Answer. The peddler was amused by the idea of the world being a giant rattrap as he was never treated very kindly by the world. Therefore, he developed hard feelings for this harsh world and loved ‘to think ill of it’ by comparing it with a giant rattrap.

Question. Why did the ironmaster speak kindly to the peddler and invite him home?
Answer. The ironmaster of the Ramsjo Ironworks spoke kindly to the peddler because he had mistaken him for an old regimental comrade, Captain Von Stahle. So, the ironmaster wanted to help the peddler, not only in regaining his health but also in taking up a new vocation. Moreover, the ironmaster was a lonely fellow who lived with his oldest daughter after the death of his wife and the departure of his sons. As he longed for some company on the Christmas Eve, he invited the peddler to his home.

Question. Why did the peddler decline the invitation?
Answer. The peddler was alarmed at the idea and request of the ironmaster of spending the night at the manor of the ironmaster, of the Ramsjo Ironworks, who also happened to be an ex-army man. He did not make any attempt to correct the ironmaster when he was mistaken for an old acquaintance. Moreover, he was more worried about the fact that, he had the stolen thirty kronor bills with him, and accepting the invitation would be like throwing himself voluntarily into the lion’s den. Therefore, the peddler thought it better to decline the invitation.

Question. When did the ironmaster realize his mistake?
Answer. The iromaster realized his mistake the next day when the peddler turned up for breakfast. The valet had bathed the peddler, cut his hair, shaved him and given him clothes. The ironmaster thought that he had been deceived in recognizing the person because of the shade of the furnace the previous night.

Question. How did the peddler defend himself when it was clear that he was not the person the ironmaster had thought he was?
Answer. The peddler defended himself by arguing time and again that he had never told that he was a captain or the old comrade of the iromaster. In fact he had repeatedly declined the ironmaster’s invitation to the peddler to spend the Christmas night at his manor.

Question. Why did Edla entertain the peddler even after she knew the truth about him ?
Answer. Edla was a lady with a king and sympathetic heart and was moved by the plight of the peddler. She had requested her father to allow him to spend one day in peace as a respite from the struggle he had endured round the year. Her principles did not allow her to throw the man out of her house especially when they had promised him a Christmas cheer. Moreover, she had been in high spirits that moring thinking of the ways to help the tramp. Therfore she entertained the peddler even after knowing the truth about him.

Question. Why was Edla happy to see the gift left by the peddler ?
Answer. Edla had shown great trust in the peddler by letting him to stay at their manor on the Christmas Eve. But the news about the robbery of thirty kroner at the crofter’s cottage had left her dejected. So she was overjoyed when she reached home to find the package and the letter left by the peddler. This gesture of appreciation from the peddler made her happy.

Question. Why did the Peddler choose to go through the forest?
Answer. After stealing the thirty kroner from the crofter, the Peddler knew that he would be caught and put in prison if he continued to walk by the main road. So he chose the back roads that went through the forest.

Question. What made the peddler think that he had indeed fallen into a rattrap?
Answer. After stealing the money from the crofter, the peddler tried to escape through the forest but soon lost his way. He was left in despair and he recollected his own thoughts on the world being a giant rattrap. A sudden realization came upon him and he felt as if he had finally got himself caught in the rattrap because he had allowed himself to be tempted by the bait, the thirty kronor bills. Similarly, on his way to the ironmaster’s home, he felt himself caught in the trap. He was again haunted by such thoughts when the ironmaster after coming to know about the truth of the peddler, threatened to get him arrested. The rattrap seller strongly realized that the worldly bait had, once more, tempted and trapped him.

Question. What made the peddler accept Edla Willmansson’s invitation?
Answer. Looking at the frightened expressions on the peddler’s face, Edla guessed that the peddler had either stolen something or had escaped prison. So she hinted an assurance that he would be free to leave whenever he wanted. Reassured, by what Edla had spoken he accepted the invitation.

Question. What doubts did Edla have about the peddler?
Answer. When Edla went to the iron mill to fetch the peddler, she noticed that he was frightened. She had doubts that either the peddler had stolen something or had escaped prison. His appearance and behavior also left her in doubts whether he was actually an educated man, as claimed by her father.

Question. Why did the Peddler not reveal his true identity when the ironmaster mistook him to be the Captain?
Answer. The Peddler thought that the ironmaster might take pity on him, give him some money if he thought he was an old acquaintance. So he kept quiet and allowed the iron master to presume that he was the captain.

Extract Based Question

Once upon a time there was a man who went around selling small rattraps of wire. He made them himself at odd moments, from the material he got by begging in the stores or at the big farms. But even so, the business was not especially profitable, so he had to resort to both begging and petty thievery to keep body and soul together. Even so, his clothes were in rags, his cheeks were sunken, and hunger gleamed in his eyes. No one can imagine how sad and monotonous life can appear to such a vagabond, who plods along the road, left to his own meditations. But one day this man had fallen into a line of thought, which really seemed to him entertaining. He had naturally been thinking of his rattraps when suddenly he was struck by the idea that the whole world about him – the whole world with its lands and seas, its cities and villages – was nothing but a big rattrap.

Question. The vagabond compared the whole world to a
(a) rattrap
(b) space
(c) universe
(d) planet

Question. The peddler’s rattraps were made of
(a) plastic
(b) wire
(c) aluminium
(d) wood

Question. The peddler often thought about people who
(a) were priests
(b) were thieves
(c) who had been tempted to touch the bait
(d) had caught rats

Question. The rattrap peddler used to resort to
(a) preaching
(b) counselling
(c) teaching
(d) thievery and begging