Fritz

Fritz - By Satyajit Ray
1. Describe how memory plays an important role in Satyajit Ray's short story "Fritz".
Answer: Memory plays an important role in Satyajit Ray's short story "Fritz". The memory of Jayanto has been presented in broad
outline. Jayanto went to Bundi in Rajasthan with his father when he was a mere child of six and he retained his memories in his mind
which helped him to relive the past by comparing the new Bundi with the old one. On reaching Bundi with his friend Shankar, Some
of the memories of his childhood days spent in the same circuit house 31 years ago came crowding in his mind. He was feeling
nostalgic. Slowly and silently he started recalling the doll gifted to him by his uncle. The doll looke very life like. It was named Fritz.
Jayanto Reminisced that he used to play with the doll all day long. Although it was not mechanised, it could bend and twist its limbs.
On knowing from Jayanto that the doll had been torn asunder by stray dogs and was buried under the deodar tree, Shankar told
him to dig up the ground in order to confirm the existence of the doll which was broken in small pieces. They got the spot dug up and
they were amused and bemused to find a 12-inch long human skeleton. There was no sign of the doll, so we see that it was Jayanto's
childhood memory which brought back the little doll Fritz to life in a new light.
2. Why Jayanto wanted to visit Bundi instead of any other place?
Answer .. Jayanto’s father had been posted in Bundi during his service under the Archeological Department. Jayanto, then a young
boy, had many fascinating memories of the place. He wanted to see how the old Bundi that had liked so much during those days, had
changed over the years.Thus, for Jayanto, it was a journey down the memory lane.
3. What is your reaction to the ending of the story?
Answer .. The discovery of a tiny human skeleton in the shallow grave under the pipal tree hits the reader like a thunderbolt. Fear,
intrigue, and shock leaves them flummoxed and befuddled. Finding a reason for the existence of a human skeleton, and that too of
such small size plunges the mind in confusion and dread. Specially, Jayanto’s attachment to Fritz ending in such a climax, adds to the
outworldliness of the story.
4. How apt is the title of the story Fritz?
Fritz started his journey in a nondescript artisan’s workshop in a remote village in Sweden till it ended in a shallow grave under a tree
in a circuit house in Bundi in Rajasthan. For a long time, he was befriended, adored, fawned-over by Jayanto. Then his life ended in a
grisly encounter, when stray dogs ripped its supple body apart. For Jayanto, it was the loss of a very dear friend who lived in flesh and
blood and proved to be a companion with a soul. Fritz departed from this mortal world, but never left its abode in Jayanto’s heart.
Fritz visited his old friend during his later sojourn to Bundi and stay in the same old circuit house where it was fatally attacked by
dogs. When Fritz came out of his grave, he showed his old friend Jayanto that he was still alive.
The gripping story would have become lifeless without Fritz. So, naming it after Fritz is so apt and intelligent.
5. Why was Jayanto appearing so absent-minded during the trip to Bundi?
Answer .. Jayanto had lived in Bundi in his childhood days. During this period, he had developed an enduring relationship with the doll
named Fritz. The two bonded very well, and Jayanto treated Fritz like a real human being in flesh and blood and an endearing charm.
The relationship ended tragically when Fritz was brutally shredded by a pack of stray dogs. Fritz was buried, but his memory clung to
Jayanto’s heart. The visit to Bundi rekindled these memories leaving Jayanto engulfed with memories of Fritz. This was the reason
why Jayanto looked so absent-minded.
6. How did the author try to assuage Jayanto’s mind during the night?
Answer .. The author rightly judged Jayanto’s angst about some nocturnal visitors to their room as un-founded and irrational fear. He
tried to calm his friend’s nerves by reassuring him that nothing untoward had happened and there was little to lose one’s sleep on.
The author looked around the room himself to see if indeed any creature had made his way in, and there was none. Even he toyed
with the idea of giving his perplexed friend some tranquilizer tablets to enable him to regain his composure.
7. How the story comes to a bone-chilling end?
Answer .. The story was heading towards a lame end until the discovery of the remnants of the toy Fritz were exhumed. The author
perhaps expected to see nothing except some rusted buckles or some such scrap. But, what was found was so outworldly and bizarre.
The discovery of a tiny human skeleton from the grave of a supple-bodied doll was so horrifying and grisly. Was Jayanto right in
treating Fritz like a living human? The question defied any answer.

Fritz

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Fritz - By Satyajit Ray

2. Why Jayanto wanted to visit Bundi instead of any other place?

3. What is your reaction to the ending of the story?

4. How apt is the title of the story Fritz?

5. Why was Jayanto appearing so absent-minded during the trip to Bundi?

7. How the story comes to a bone-chilling end?

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