The Post Office by Rabindranath Tagore | The Post Office | डाकघर | Rabindranath Tagore | Plot | Characters | Themes | Symbolism | Critical Overview | Questions Answers | Free PDF Download – Easy Literary Lessons
The Post Office
“The Post Office” is a play written by Rabindranath Tagore in 1912. The story revolves around a young boy named Amal, who is confined to his room due to an incurable disease. Despite his physical limitations, Amal is full of curiosity and wonder. He watches the stream of life in the outer world from the window of his room and gets fascinated by it.
A post office is built near Amal’s window, which sparks his imagination. He dreams that the king’s postman will one day bring a letter for him. The post office provides a realistic background to the symbolism of the letter. It comes from a distant mysterious land bringing a message from someone whom we hold dear to us. It is a sort of bridge between the known and the unknown. To Amal’s mind, the postman is a specially privileged person, for he establishes communion between the distant and near.
The village headman mocks Amal and pretends that the illiterate child has received a letter from the king promising that his royal physician will come to attend him. As Amal’s physical condition deteriorates, he continues to hope for the king’s letter. The royal physician does come, bringing the message of deliverance, and announces the imminent arrival of the king. However, Amal passes away just as Sudha comes to bring him flowers.
The death of Amal in the play is not a physical death but has a symbolic significance. Death represents the end of the spiritual bondage of the soul. The play is a metaphor for spiritual freedom, with death seen as a beginning rather than an ending. It also presents a social commentary on class structure through the servants who surround Amal during his illness. The play is a poignant exploration of the human desire for connection and the search for meaning in life.
The play was written in four days and continues to occupy a special place in Tagore’s reputation, both within Bengal and in the wider world. It was performed in English for the first time in 1913 by the Abbey Theatre in Dublin, directed by W. B. Yeats and Lady Gregory. The Bengali original was staged at Tagore’s Jorasanko Theatre in Calcutta in 1917. The themes of liberation from captivity and zest for life resonated in its performances in concentration camps where it was staged during World War II. The play has been translated into several languages and has had a significant impact globally.
