DOUGLAS MEMORIAL HIGHER SECONDARY SCHOOL

PROJECT 2

NAME – SAHIL KARMAKAR

CLASS – XI ARTS
SECTION – A
ROLL –31
SUBJECT – ENGLISH LITERATURE PROJECT
SESSION – 2020 - 2021
 INDEX

Sl.no Date Topic Page no. Remarks

1 Acknowledgemen
t
2 Topic
3 Introduction
4 Content
5 Conclusion
6 Bibliography
FRITZ
BY SATYAJIT RAY
 ACKNOWLEDGMENT

I would like to express my special thanks of gratitude to my English Literature

teacher Mrs. Saswati ghosh for their able guidance in completing my project. I
would also like to extend my gratitude to the principal ma’am mrs. Sonia Gidla
Medidi for providing me with all the facility that was required.
 INTRODUCTION

Fritz is an interesting story about a suprarational incident experienced by Sankhar,

the narrator of the story and his friend Jayanto. Fritz throws up a lot of questions that
remain unanswered right till the end of the story. Revolving around the themes of
friendship and the idea of the supernatural, the story demonstrates Ray’s penchant
for suspense and mystery.
 FRITZ

The Storyline / Plot Summary

The Short story ‘Fritz’ written by Satyajit Ray published in his book ‘Collected Short
Stories’ is about a Swiss doll named Fritz.

Jayanto, the protagonist, works in the editorial section of a newspaper and Shankar,
the narrator is a school teacher. Both of them are great friends and have finally
managed to get some time to go on a trip together. They decide to go to Bundi; a
village in Rajasthan where Jayanto had been before in his childhood with his
parents.

They stay at the Circuit house (a kind of guest house) where Jayanto had stayed
before in his childhood due to his father’s frequent work trips there. Upon reaching,
Shankar realises that Jayanto is in somewhat pensive mood and queries about it.
Jayanto says that the old memories are rushing into his mind. Shankar thinks that
being the overemotional guy Jayanto is, he’s being nostalgic, so he doesn’t say
anything in that matter.

They go for sightseeing in the compound and suddenly Jayanto remembers that
there was a tall deodar tree there. He searches for it and finds it at the end of the
compound. He looks at the trunk searchingly and says here he had met a European
but doesn’t exactly remember who it was or how they had met.

They return to the Circuit house where Dilwar, the cook, has prepared their dinner.
Meanwhile Jayanto seems to remember the old memory of the European. He tells
Shankar the tale about Fritz which Shankar hears amusedly. It was a one-foot tall
Swiss doll brought from Switzerland by his uncle for him. He says he was very much
attached to the doll and was devastated when two stray dogs had mutilated it. He
had buried the doll’s remnants under the very same deodar tree.

Shankar is quite tired so he goes to bed but wakes up abruptly in the middle of the
night and finds Jayanto sitting on his bed, looking perplexed. Upon asking the
reason, Jayanto says that something had walked over his chest when he was
asleep. Shankar assures that it could have been his dream but Jayanto shows him
his pillow. Faint marks were there pointing to the fact that an animal had walked over
it. Shankar does a thorough search of the place but doesn’t find any small animal like
mice or rats. Shankar feels that his friend is just exaggerating but tells him soothing
words nevertheless. After this they both go to sleep.

The following day, during their visit to an old fort on the hills, Jayanto remains quite
lost in thoughts. After returning, Shankar queries about it persistently. Jayanto says
that Fritz, the doll, had come back alive and it was the doll last night who had walked
over his chest leaving his footprints. Shankar, now annoyed with Jayanto’s irrational
fears, suggests to dig up the doll’s grave and see for himself that the doll isn’t back.

Jayanto agrees; together they have the gardener dig the place where Fritz had been
buried. To their horror, they find a pure white 12-inch skeleton, exactly the same size
as Fritz. They both are confused and scared to see this. Naturally, weird thoughts
and assumptions pop into their mind. The story ends here on a cliffhanger.

Titled after the doll, the story ‘Fritz’ is narrated in first person from Sankar’s
perspective and that provides a realistic depth into Jayanto’s point of view,
unclouded by Jayanto’s irrational fears and beliefs.
The passages are maybe a bit long and quite descriptive about the ancient
craftsman style, the current venue, about Jayanto’s childhood memories and
experiences. The story includes a lot of flashbacks; half of the whole story is told in
those flashbacks but the timing to reveal those past memories and moments is so
perfect that the readers won’t have trouble with the transitions.
The characters are well-portrayed. Jayanto’s character is drawn as a light-hearted
person and maybe at times irrational as well, whereas Shankar is a smart, rational
man who believes only in what his eyes see. Hence, he was annoyed at Jayanto’s
assumption that Fritz was back. It’d be right to say that he was quite fearless as well
because even when Jayanto was reluctant to dig the grave, he was sure about what
he wanted and how to get it done.
The story is set in Bundi, Rajasthan. You will get an idea of the place even if you
haven’t visited it, thanks to the author’s powerful vocabulary.

The main themes are friendship, lost friends, memories, childhood, superstitions,
fear and conflict. The word ‘superstition’ can be replaced by supernatural or
paranormal according to the reader’s belief depending on what they want to believe
or think.
Throughout the story, there’s a constant feel of foreboding, Jayanto isn’t his usual
self. He’s rather worried and pensive about something. The past it seems is
controlling him; he hasn’t let go of his horrible yet sad memory of Fritz being torn by
those street dogs.

From the beginning it’s full of mystery, promises of adrenaline rush, foreboding and
at times even horror. And it’s enough to get anyone hooked up with the story. Then
there’s the ending; the author has left it in a cliffhanger, leaving the readers to
wonder and assume how it was possible, and about Fritz; was he human? Was he
really back to meet his friend? You’re free to assume and cook up your own version.
The author is popular for the shocking elements and endings in his stories and he
has done an incredible job in this one as well.
 CONCLUSION

The end of the story is also interesting as the reader is left surprised by what Jayanto
and Shankar find when they are looking for Fritz. They find a twelve inch human
skeleton which leaves the reader questioning whether Fritz was really a toy or was
he human. It is a question that is difficult to answer.
 BIBLIOGRAPHY

https://englicist.com/notes/fritz-satyajit-ray