The Letter Class 10 English Summary. Summary with questions and answers and MCQ. This chapter is about a father’s love for his daughter. It shows how love is a strong feeling that can overcome any boundaries. The chapter ‘The Letter’ of Class 10 is written by the author Dhumaketu. Here you will find the letter class 10 summary, the letter class 10 pdf, the letter class 10 story, the letter class 10 extra questions and answers, with a small gist/explanation of the chapter.
The Letter Class 10 English Summary : Introduction
This chapter is about a father and his love for his daughter. The father was also a hunter when he was young. When the evening of his life came upon he started to understand how love and life with all other emotions are interconnected.
The Letter Class 10 English Summary
The chapter, ‘The Letter’, is about a father who always showed up to the post office at five in the morning sharp. The father, Coachman Ali, always showed up for five continuous years at the post office and he sat there till the evening waiting for a letter to come. The man was old and even went to the post office when it was winter. The weather was even not enough to stop him to go to the post office.
Regular Days
The people at the post office continued their regular duties and thus they knew that the old man would come on time to visit them. They called him a lunatic, a mad man and other names. They made fun of him for waiting for letters that never came for him. The father did not pay any attention to them and used to ask them if they had seen his letter from Mariam.
His daughter
Mariam was the daughter of the old man. She was married and went to stay at Punjab. The father did not have anyone else than her. Also, he did not hear from her since the last five years and thus always longed for her letter.
Coachman Ali’s past
The old man was a hunter when he was young and used to hunt down animals. But since Mariam went away, he did not like to hunt anymore. He felt the sadness the animals felt when their children or parents were taken away. He could not bear that in his heart and thus gave up hunting. Then he took a totally different turn and led an ordinary life. People in the post office said that since he had committed many sins thus his life was becoming the way it was.
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The old man then understood the meaning of love and separation followed by grief. One day he was very sad and wept under a tree thinking about these things.
Ali’s last day
One day as usual everyone at the post office was waiting for the old man and the old man did not come. For several days he did not come, but no one was bothered for him. At last he came again. But something was odd about him. He had aged a lot. It looked like he was approaching his end. He reached the post office and begged the post master to give him his letter. But the post master was in a hurry to go to a different place. So he rudely addressed the old man to leave as none of the letters were addressed to him. The post master also said that the post office does not eat anyone’s letter.
One of the clerk’s came up to Ali and then Ali gave the clerk five golden guineas and told him to send him the letter when it arrives. The clerk asked for his address and Ali said to give the letter to his grave. He also said that he knew he would not even live for one more day. Then Ali went away and no one saw him again. They also did not trouble themselves to look after him.
The Letter
One day the postmaster came to the post office and sat there anxiously waiting for a letter from his own daughter. She was ill in another town. The postmaster saw an envelope from a residential area and quickly flipped it to see if it came from his daughter. But surprisingly it was adressed to Coachman Ali from Mariam. He was shocked and was feeling sad. The postmaster called the clerk and asked him to find out ali’s address.
The postmaster now understood Ali’s feelings as he was waiting for his daughter’s letters all the day. He had a lot of sympathy for the old man. The next day he thought that he would give the letter to Ali himself. The clock struk five and there was a knock at the door. He knew it had to be Ali. The door flung open Ali was standing there supported by his stick. The postmaster went on to give him the letter. Then it struck the postmaster that Ali had taken some unearthly form. Then the clerk came from another room asking the postmaster about some daily quiries. He found that the postmaster was astonished and stared at the door for no reason.
The clerk asked the postmaster who he saw on the door. The postmaster said it was Coachman Ali. The clerk then said that it was not possible since Ali passed away three months ago. The postmaster and the clerk went to give the letter to the grave of Coachman Ali on their own. The newly found sympathy and father’s love inside the heart of the postmaster kept him awake and night.
The Letter Class 10 English Summary : Exercises
Q. Answer the following questions by ticking the correct options:
(a) Ali’s walking to the Post Office daily even in biting cold weather shows his strength of will.
(i) courage(ii) optimism(iii) foolishness(iv) strength of will
(b) The Post Office is referred to as Ali’s “place of pilgrimage” as he went there with faith and hope.
(i) visited it daily(ii) came there to pray for a letter from his daughter(iii) went there with faith and hope(iv) believed God would bless him if he went there
(c) The Post Master’s rudeness to Ali reveals his lack of empathy.
(i) lack of empathy(ii) preoccupation with his work(iii) preconceived notions(iv) sensitivity
d) Ali did not come to the Post Office for several days as he was unwell and not able to walk to the Post Office.
(i) he had given up hope(ii) he was upset by the Post Master’s rebuke(iii) he was unwell and not able to walk to the Post Office(iv) he was busy hunting
(e) “Tortured by doubt and remorse, he sat down in the glow of the charcoal sigri to wait.” The Post Master was waiting for a letter from his own daughter.
(i) a letter from Miriam(ii) a letter from his own daughter(iii) a letter from Ali(iv) Ali to deliver Miriam’s letter to him.
Answer the following questions briefly.
(a) Who was Ali? Where did he go daily?
Ans. Ali was a hunter and a father. He went to the Post Office daily to hear from his daughter.
(b) “Ali displays qualities of love and patience”. Give evidence from the story to support the statement.
Ans. Ali displays qualities of love and patience. Ali just started to feel lonely after the marriage of his daughter as he did not hear from her since five years. So he started to understand love for others and the art of empathy.
(c) How do you know Ali was a familiar figure at the post office?
Ans. We get to know that Ali is a familiar figure at the Post Office because the employees at the post office saw him everyday and called him a mad person.
(d) Why did Ali give up hunting?
Ans. Ali got to know that love of family is the most important thing on the planet. He knew how it was like to stay away from family members, thus he gave up hunting, as in hunting animals lose their partners or children. He understood the pain.
(c) What impression do you form of the postmaster after reading the story ‘The Letter’?
Ans. We get to know that the postmaster was a person who lacked empathy.
(f) The postmaster says to Ali, “What a pest you are, brother!” Do you agree with the statement? Give reasons for your answer.
Ans. We can not truly blame the postmaster because he was in a hurry too. Everybody has their work to do and Ali was bothering him and taking up a lot of time.
More questions
(g) “Ali came out very slowly, turning after every few steps to gaze at the post office. His eyes were filled with tears of helplessness, for his patience was exhausted, even though he still had faith.” Why were Ali’s eyes filled with tears of helplessness? What had exhausted his patience but not his faith?
Ans. Ali was unwell and he got to know that he did not really have much time left so his patience was exhausted but he still had faith.
(h) “Tortured by doubt and remorse, he sat down in the glow of the charcoal sigri to wait.” Who is tortured by doubt and remorse? Why? What is he waiting for?
Ans. The post master was tortured by doubt and remorse because he could not help Ali when he lived and moreover made fun of him.
The postmaster was waiting for a letter from his daughter.
The Letter Class 10 English Summary : Conclusion
The Letter by Dhumaketu is a beautiful story that shows us the value of family and time. We might feel sometimes that these two things are not important for us but its absence bothers us. The feelings we have should not be hidden and we should give our love and compassion to the ones who need it. We should help others whenever we can too.