Answer in 120 words
Q. The rattrap is a story of human redemption of how compassion , selfless service can bring about a change in our behaviour for the better . Justify

The Rattrap deals with the issues of human loneliness, the need to bond with others and how it can bring about a change in a person's life. Not only the peddler but also other characters like the crofter, the ironmaster and Edla emphasise this fact.

The peddler’s conscience had left him because he had been lonely in his predicament, for a long time. But Edla’s kindness and hospitality changed him. The crofter, on the other hand, is a lonely fellow whose craving for company leads him to give shelter to a vagabond, and he ends up getting robbed. Even, the ironmaster and his daughter suffer from loneliness. They crave company on Christmas Eve and are excited when they get the opportunity to serve a guest.

Meeting the ironmaster's daughter was a turning point for the peddler because her unbridled kindness and concern touched him deeply and spurred him to mend his ways. She convinced her father to allow him to stay on in their house to share the Christmas cheer. She made him believe in himself again, treated him like a captain in the army though she was well aware of the fact that he was a common tramp. It was as a token of appreciation for this treatment that he left the rattrap as a Christmas gift for the girls and enclosed a letter of thanks, leaving behind the stolen money to be restored to the owner. The peddler had never laid eyes on the ironmaster at Ramsjo and did not even know his name. But it occurred to him that if the fine gentleman thought that he was his old acquaintance by the name of Nils Olof then he might help him with a couple of kronor. He decided not to undeceive the man all at once and continued with the charade of being Nils Olof. He said that things were going downhill with him ever since he had resigned from the regiment to which the ironmaster retorted by saying that it was the gravest mistake he had committed. The peddler, however, could not be comfortable with the idea of going up to the manor house and be received by the owner like an old regimental comrade as it was not quite right to deceive a good man.

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