Question

Describe the event that led the narrator, Shankar, to suggest digging the ground under the Deodar tree in the short story, Fritz. Write your answer in a short paragraph of about 100-150 words.

Answer 1

In Satyajit Ray's short story "Fritz," the narrator, Shankar, suggests digging the ground under the Deodar tree following a peculiar set of events involving a toy cat named Fritz. Fritz, once owned by the narrator's friend Jayanto, had been buried under the same Deodar tree twenty-five years earlier during Jayanto's childhood stay at a rest house in Bundi. The memory of Fritz resurfaces as Jayanto feels increasingly troubled and haunted by a spot under the Deodar tree during their current visit to the same rest house. Jayanto, disturbed by dreams and an inexplicable sense of unease centred around that specific location, confides in Shankar about the exact place where Fritz was buried. Observing Jayanto's distressed state and the intense connection to the buried toy, Shankar suggests digging up the spot to potentially uncover and thus resolve the source of Jayanto's anxiety, hoping it would bring some peace to his friend.