Question

Why did the narrator of the story want to forget the address?

Answer 1

The narrator went to the house of the lady who had promised to keep the valuable items of her mother safe during the war . The address given by her mother helped the girl in finding out the house but when she saw the tasteless manner in which her belongings were arranged, she wanted to forget the address and leave the house as she could not connect herself with her belongings. They had lost all their emotional value for the narrator. She now lived in a small rented room where there was no place to keep all those things. That was why she wanted to forget the address.

Comments

Once the war was over, the narrator went to Mrs Dorling's address in search of her mother's belongings. But the woman pretended not to recognize, her. Nor did she show any intention of returning the things which she had taken from the narrator's mother. The narrator was shocked to see the 'nice belongings' of her mother being used in Mrs Dorling's house. She felt nostalgic and decided that she would not try to take them back, as they reminded her about the horrors of the war. Since their true owner was no longer in this world, the possessions had lost their meaning. She felt that it was better to forget the address of the uncharitable Mrs Dorling, which symbolised a tragic past.