Give a character sketch of the postmaster in the story story 'The Postmaster' written by Rabindranath Tagore.

There are many attributes to "The Postmaster."  One one
hand, he is very bright and extremely well read.  He displays and communicates this to
Ratan.  Additionally, he is urbane and well cultured.  This is seen with his difficult
transition to life in the village.  The strongest attribute of the Postmaster is that he
represents to Ratan a world that is so strongly different than her own.  In the end,
though, he is shown to be limited emotionally and nowhere near the level of moral
stature and transcendence of Ratan.  He is shown to be this towering figure of strength
and respect, yet over time, he is shown to be a baby of sorts.  When his mother writes
to him that he is alone, the reader couples this with his inability to work though his
being sick alone as a constant need for attention and care.  Ratan does provide this,
although he does little in way of full acknowledgement of it.  His missing the life of
the city and continual complaining of the village is another indication that while the
Postmaster might possess individual qualities and strength, they pale to those held by
Ratan.  What he complains and shows disdain for, she lives on a minute by minute basis. 
In this light, the Postmaster is secondary to Ratan in strength and endurance.  Finally,
the ending might reveal a great deal about both the Postmaster and Ratan.  It is clear
that he laughs off her suggestion of going with him back to the village.  This is
already understood, and the reader has some level of antipathy about it.  Even if one
were completely partisan towards the postmaster, the manner in which he dismisses
someone's claims of love and loyalty is fairly shallow.  Yet, when he does leave her,
she stands, alone and watching.  As he departs, there are thoughts about Ratan, and
potential second thoughts about taking her.  Yet, he rationalizes these thoughts away,
having to retreat to intellect to mask an obvious condition of affect.  In this light,
the postmaster is revealed to be emotionally impotent or emotionally ambivalent about
one of the most important decisions of his life and Ratan's.