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The Postmaster
Ratan is a “twelve or thirteen” year old “orphaned village girl” who helps the postmaster with housework in return for a portion of his meals. Tagore’s anonymous narrator notes that it is “unlikely” that she will get married, suggesting that her future is bleak: she is lower-class, lacks a family, and cannot marry out of her poverty or find employment outside of menial household work. At first reluctant to interact with the postmaster, Ratan gradually begins to enjoy her conversations with her “master,” in which she recounts her own family background and begins to form “affectionate imaginary pictures” of the postmaster’s own family life. Ratan also learns quickly from the postmaster’s lessons in reading and the alphabet. Eventually, Ratan comes to think of the postmaster as a father or husband, and she becomes dependent on his generosity and his conversations with her. She nurses him back to health after his sickness, “staying awake at his bedside all night long.” Finally, after the postmaster has recovered and decides to leave Ulapur, Ratan asks him to take her “home” with him—essentially, to adopt or marry her. The postmaster’s incredulous rejection of this proposal horrifies and embarrasses Ratan. After his departure, she wanders “near the post office, weeping copiously.” Destitute, lonely, and still uneducated, Ratan cannot leave the confines of Ulapur, though she wishes desperately to. She has neither the freedom nor the philosophy of the postmaster, who can comfort himself in his grief with the knowledge that death and separation are an inescapable part of life. Ratan, though, has no such knowledge, and thus, no such comfort.
Ratan Quotes in The Postmaster
The The Postmaster quotes below are all either spoken by Ratan or refer to Ratan . For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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The Postmaster Quotes
The postmaster would say abruptly, “So, Ratan, do you remember your mother?” She had lots to tell him: some things she remembered, others she did not. Her father loved her more than her mother did—she remembered him a little. He used to come home in the evening after working hard all day, and one or two evenings were clearly etched in her memory. As she talked, Ratan edged nearer to the postmaster, and would end up sitting on the ground at his feet.
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Ratan and the postmaster begin to form a relationship on the basis of their late-night conversations, in which they express memories from their childhood. Notably, Ratan is the first to share her recollections, upon the postmaster’s prompting; her memories allow the postmaster to understand her not merely as an outcast orphan but as an individual with a family life and vibrant memories. By sharing her stories, Ratan comes alive—brightened and excited by the prospect of interaction and conversation—and she and the postmaster experience moments of unity that transcend their disparate class statuses. This connection, in turn, makes the postmaster’s ultimate Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut.
He felt in need of comfort, ill and miserable as he was, in this isolated place, the rain pouring down. He remembered the touch on his forehead of soft hands, conch-shell bangles. He wished his mother or sister were sitting here next to him, soothing his illness and loneliness with feminine tenderness. And his longings did not stay unfulfilled. The young girl Ratan was a young girl no longer. From that moment on she took on the role of a mother.
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The postmaster is severely affected by the weather in Ulapur—namely, its intense monsoons—and becomes ill. His illness makes him homesick for his female relatives, who often soothed him during illnesses, and their “feminine tenderness.” Ratan steps into the role of a female relative for the postmaster here, providing for him in his pain and demonstrating the “tenderness” he craves. Yet the postmaster does not acknowledge her as a potential wife nor a member of his family (though she desires to be a part of his), understanding that they are from two different worlds, and from two different rungs of society.
When the postmaster had had his meal, she suddenly asked, “Dadababu, will you take me home with you?” “How could I do that!” said the postmaster, laughing. He saw no need to explain to the girl why the idea was impossible. All night long, whether dreaming or awake, Ratan felt the postmaster’s laugh ringing in her ears. “How could I do that!”
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To the postmaster, the reason he cannot bring Ratan home with him is obvious: she is his servant, only important to him for the services she provides. Though he has shown Ratan kindness and helped her begin to improve her life, ultimately he feels that he has no obligation to her. This is despite the closeness that Ratan herself feels toward him. The postmaster’s laughing retort, which occurs at the climax of the narrative, is a cruel rejection of Ratan and a definitive confirmation of their impassable class statuses. Ratan’s bravery in asking a man of higher class status to Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non au
The postmaster felt a huge anguish: the image of a simple young village-girl’s grief-stricken face seemed to speak a great inarticulate universal sorrow. He felt a sharp desire to go back: should he not fetch that orphaned girl, whom the world had abandoned? ... Detached by the current of the river, he reflected that in life there are many separations, many deaths. What point was there in going back? Who belonged to whom in this world?”
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The postmaster has philosophy to comfort him as he departs Ulapur, borne away on fierce flood waters that symbolize the profound power of the natural world. He cannot return to Ratan, since he believes that all relationships in life are fleeting. In deciding to remain on his journey, the postmaster overlooks the consequences of his actions: he has left behind a young woman poised on the brink of a better life, ultimately preventing her from grasping new opportunities by cutting off her education and denying her the support he once provided. Ratan’s face speaks “universal sorrow,” yet the postmaster seems Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedi
But Ratan had no such philosophy to console her. All she could do was wander near the post office, weeping copiously. Maybe a faint hope lingered in her mind that Dadababu might return; and this was enough to tie her to the spot, prevent her from going far. O poor, unthinking human heart! Error will not go away, logic and reason are slow to penetrate.
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Though the postmaster leaves Ulapur comforted by his belief that no relationships in life can last, Ratan cannot find comfort in her misery, since she cannot leave her native village: she has neither the education nor the financial means to do so. Ratan is sustained by “faint hope” that the postmaster might return and help her to find opportunities outside of Ulapur, but as Tagore’s narrator affirms, this is merely “error”—her hope is false and futile, though it will continue to sustain her as she lingers near the post office, attending the postmaster’s return. Yet Ratan’s life has not been Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaqu
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Ratan Character Timeline in The Postmaster
The timeline below shows where the character Ratan appears in The Postmaster. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
The Postmaster
...the postmaster has to cook his own meals, though he hires an orphaned village girl, Ratan, to do housework for him, compensating her with a share of his food. In the...
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Ratan insists that she must light the kitchen fire, but the postmaster tells her to get...
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These conversations about Ratan’s family go on late into the night, and eventually the postmaster and Ratan are too...
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Sometimes, the postmaster tells Ratan about his own family: his younger brother, mother, and older sister. He misses them greatly,...
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The postmaster calls out for Ratan, who is eating unripe guavas under a guava tree. She gets up immediately, and the...
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...in the village. It becomes impossible to travel around Ulapur on foot instead of boat. Ratan waits for the postmaster by his door, but when he does not call for her,...
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The postmaster says that he is ill, and Ratan feels his forehead. He needs comfort in the midst of his isolation and misery, and...
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...to the head office in Calcutta, asking for a transfer. Since the postmaster is recovered, Ratan leaves his bedroom and begins to wait for him by his door as usual, but...
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One day, the postmaster calls to Ratan, and she rushes eagerly into his house. The postmaster informs her that he is leaving...
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While the postmaster eats the chapati she has prepared, Ratan asks him if he will take her home with him. The postmaster laughs and replies,...
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...everyday from the river in a bucket) has been laid out already. He realizes that Ratan has carried the bath-water up from the river late the night before so that he...
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Though the postmaster’s remark is meant to be kind and generous, Ratan cannot bear it, and she regards the comment as more severe than even the scoldings...
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...trunk. When he is on the boat, he begins to feel miserable. He cannot forget Ratan’s grief-stricken face, and he suddenly wishes to return to her. However, the boat has departed,...
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Ratan cannot comfort herself with logic and philosophy in the way that the postmaster can. Instead,...
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