SEBA / SMEBA / NCERT CLASS 10 ENGLISH SOLUTIONS
(FOOTPRINT WITHOUT FEET)
CHAPTER : THE HACK DRIVER
The Hack Driver
QuestionS and AnswerS
CLASS
10 ENGLISH FOOTPRINT WITHOUT FEET
CHAPTER
: THE
HACK DRIVER
The Hack Driver
Summary:
This
story is about a young lawyer who is too innocent. He goes to a village to
serve summon to a person called Lutkins. At the railway station he meets a
person who identifies himself as Bill. Bill appears to know everyone in the
village and promises to search Lutkins for the lawyer. He takes the lawyer for
a ride and dupes him off lots of money. But after a six hour long search, they
do not find Lutkins. Next day, when the lawyer goes to the village with one of
his colleagues, he discovers that it was Lutkins who posed as Bill on the
previous day. Everyone, except the lawyer have a hearty laugh at the
predicament of the lawyer.
OVERVIEW
OF THE CHAPTER
Chapter
Sketch
The
story The Hack Driver’ by Sinclair Lewis, is about a man whose name was Oliver
Lutkins. He was a cunning man who was a witness in a case, but he ignored all
the requests for appearing. A young lawyer was given the duty to find this man
in New Mullion. There he meets a helpful and cheerful hack driver. The driver
takes him around the village in search of Lutkins but is unable to find him.
Later on the lawyer came to know that the hack (cart) driver was Oliver Lutkins
himself. The young lawyer becomes the laughing stock of all.
About
the Characters
·
Narrator : A young lawyer who is gullible. The hack driver makes a
fool out of him.
·
Oliver Lutkins : A dishonest man who tricks others and receives summons
from the court. He is a great story teller. He takes up the name of Bill
Magnuson to fool the lawyer.
The narrator, a young lawyer works in a law firm and is assigned
the duty to serve summons to a witnesses required in a court case. The narrator
graduated with honours in law and dreamt of practising law. But all his hopes
are dashed because he does not get any case to handle but is sent to serve
summons. As this work is difficult and dangerous, he hates it. He thinks of
going back to his town to become a lawyer.
One day he goes to a village named New Mullion to serve summons
to Oliver Lutkins. He expects to find a beautiful and peaceful village. But his
expectations are proved false as the village has streets full of mud. There are
shabby wooden shops all around. The only cheerful thing that the lawyer finds a
man at the station. This man drives a carriage and offers to help him find
Oliver Lutkins.
The
Hack Driver Tells the Lawyer about Lutkins :
The
hack driver informed him that Lutkins was hard to catch. He was always busy
doing one thing or another. He tells him that Lutkins even owes him some money.
The lawyer is quite impressed by the friendly conduct of the hack driver. Now,
he trusts him completely. The lawyer hires his carriage for a couple of hours
to find Lutkins. He even tells him that he had summons to serve on Lutkins.
The
Hack Driver Takes the Lawyer Around :
The
hack driver suggests that he would find out about Lutkins as Lutkins might run
away on seeing the lawyer. The driver takes him to Fritz’s shop. Then he takes
him to Gustaff s barber shop. After that they go to Gray’s and the poolroom.
But they miss Oliver Lutkins every time. Lunch time arrives. The driver gets
him some cheap lunch made by his wife.
The
Lawyer Enjoys the Driver’s Company :
The
lawyer did not mind that he had not found Oliver Lutkins because he was’
enjoying the company of the hack driver. The lawyer was impressed by the wisdom
of the man. The driver told him everything about New Mullion. He described the
people and their habits. His simplicity and humour influences the lawyer so
much that he plans to settle down in the village. He ends up paying the hack
driver for six hours.
The Driver and the Lawyer Visit Oliver’s Mother :
The hack driver suggested that they should look for Oliver at
his mother’s place. She was described as a terrifying woman. The woman chased
them away with a burning iron and threatened to burn them. The two escaped to
save themselves.
When the lawyer returned to town without serving the summons his
chief got very angry with him. They needed Lutkins as an important witness in
their case. The next day he sent another man who knew Lutkins with the lawyer
to the village to bring Lutkins.
The lawyer and his companion went to the village the next day.
They found the hack driver at the station laughing and joking with Lutkin’s
mother. He pointed out the driver to his companion and explained how the driver
helped him in trying to find Lutkins. Surprisingly, his companion told the
lawyer that the driver was Lutkins himself. The lawyer served summons on
Lutkins who made fun of him.
Chapter
Highlights
1. The narrator completed his graduation in law and joined a big
firm as a junior assistant clerk.
2. He was given the dirty and dangerous job of serving summons.
3. He gets an opportunity to go to a village to serve summons.
4. A helpful hack driver at the station offers to take him in his
cart and find Lutkins.
5. The driver takes him to all the places where Lutkins could be
found but fails to locate him.
6. He shows him the village and describes the country life.
7. They do not find Lutkins but, the lawyer is very happy to find
such a friendly and helpful man.
8. They visit Lutkin’s home and meet his mother who frightens them
away.
9. The Lawyer ends up paying for six hours to the hack driver.
10. He returns to the city. His chief is angry at his failure to
find Lutkins.
11.The chief sends the lawyer back the next day with a man who
knows Lutkins.
12. The lawyer shows him the helpful hack driver.
13. His companion tells him that the hack driver was Oliver Lutkins.
14. The lawyer feels embarrassed and unhappy when he serves summons
to a laughing Oliver Lutkins.
WORD
MEANINGS
|
Word |
Meaning |
|
PAGE 47 |
|
|
Brief |
A summary of the facts and legal points in a case given to an
advocate to argue in court. |
|
Summons |
An order to appear before a judge |
|
Country |
Outskirts |
|
Agreeable sight |
Pleasant sight |
|
Detective |
A person whose occupation is to investigate and solve crimes |
|
Rejoice |
Feel or show great joy or delight |
|
PAGE 48 |
|
|
Cent |
A monetary unit in various countries, equal to one-hundredth
of a dollar. |
|
Bargain |
To try tb make someone agree to give you something at a better
price |
|
PAGE 49 |
|
|
Part with |
To give up (money, property, control etc) |
|
Lingered |
To take a longer time to leave |
|
Swede |
A native of Sweden |
|
Earnestly |
Sincerely and seriously |
|
Scarcely |
Hardly |
|
PAGE 50 |
|
|
Greasy |
Containing or cooked with a large amount of fat |
|
Wisdom |
Good sense or judgement |
|
Creek |
A narrow area of water that flows into the land from the sea |
|
Philosophy |
A particular set of ideas about knowledge, truth, the nature
and meaning of life etc |
|
Meadow |
A piece of grassland |
|
PAGE 51 |
|
|
Retired |
Went back |
|
Seized |
Got hold of |
|
Retreat |
An act of moving back or withdrawing |
|
Barn |
A large farm building used for storing hay/grain etc |
|
Swearing |
Rude or offensive language that someone uses, especially when
they are angry |
|
Peering |
To look carefully or with difficulty |
|
PAGE 52 |
|
|
Loafing |
To spend one’s time in an aimless, idle way |
|
Ditches |
A long, narrow open hole that is dug on the ground |
Broad
Summary:
This
story is about a junior assistant clerk. His job was to serve summons. As he
hated this work, he thought about running away to his own home town, and become
a lawyer right away. One day, he was asked to serve summons on a man, called
Oliver Lutkins as he was a witness in a law suit.
On
reaching New Mullion, he found that a delivery man (hack driver) was willing to
help him find him the person in querry. He would charge two dollars an hour for
that work, as it would be very difficult to locate Lutkins. The hackman started
talking to him and said that Lutkins never parted with his money.
Wherever
they went, he told the narrator to keep out of sight, while he enquired for
Lutkins. They went to Fritz’s where Lutkins played poker and from there to a
barber and then a poolroom. They were not able to find Lutkins.
In
the afternoon as the narrator was feeling hungry, he decided to buy lunch and
offered to pay for the hack driver’s lunch also. The driver got the lunch
prepared by his wife and charged him half a dollar for it.
Finally, the hack driver took him to Lutkin’s house. When Lutkin’s mother heard
that they had come to serve summons on her son, she seized an iron rod and
marched on them. She also threatened to burn them if they did not go away.
Although the narrator was frightened, they searched all over, but were unable
to locate Lutkins. The narrator returned to his city.
As
the case was coining up for hearing the next day, he was asked to go back and
somehow serve summons on Lutkins. A man who knew Lutkins went with him.
On
reaching New Mullion, the narrator was shocked to find that the hack driver
himself was Oliver Lutkins. Lutkins and his mother laughed at him. Feeling
insulted and humiliated, the narrator served summons on Lutkins.
Questions
& Answers
Question
1: When the lawyer reached New Mullion, did ‘Bill’ know that he was looking for
Lutkins? When do you think Bill came up with his plan for fooling the lawyer?
Answer: Lutkins act of
taking the lawyer for a ride clearly indicates that he is a very cunning
person. It is his natural behaviour to not disclose his true identity to
unknown persons. Moreover, being a cheat as he is it seems his regular practice
to dupe people who are newcomers.
Question
2: Lutkins openly takes the lawyer all over the village. How is it that no one
lets out the secret? Can you find other such subtle ways in which Lutkins manipulates
the tour?
Answer: Lutkin never
allows the lawyer to the place where the imaginary Lutkins is supposed to be
present at a given time. The way he weaves stories about Lutkin’s vagabond
nature and the way he scares the lawyer about Lutkin’s mother are great tools
applied by Bill.
Queston
3: Why do you think Lutkins’ neighbours were anxious to meet the lawyer?
Answer: Lutkin’s
neighbours were not anxious to meet a person who could be easily duped. They
wanted to enjoy the lawyer’s predicament.
Question
4: After his first day’s experience with the hack driver the lawyer thinks of
returning to New Mullion to practise law. Do you think he would have
reconsidered this idea after his second visit?
Answer: After his second
visit the lawyer must have got the shock of his life that how easily he
believed Lutkins. He also got a lesson to deal carefully with people. The image
of a village with friendly people must have changed in his mind. So there is
least chance of him planning to practice law in that village.
Question
5: Do you think the lawyer was gullible? How could he have avoided being taken
for a ride?
Answer: The lawyer seems
to be a simpleton and inexperienced person. He has yet to come to grips with
the way the bad world functions. He could have done his homework better before
going to the village. He could have taken a photograph of Lutkins if available.
Before relying on Bill he could have cross checked with other people as well.
He could have avoided sending Bill alone to search Lutkins.
Extract Based Questions
(4 marks each)
Question 1.
I had
to go to dirty and shadowy comers of the city to seek out victims. Some of tji
larger and more self-confident ones even beat me up.
(a) Who is T ?
(b) Why
was ‘T’ beaten up ?
(c)
What does the word, ‘victim’ mean ?
(d)
Name the chapter from where the above lines have been taken?
Answer:
(a) ‘I’ is author, Sinclair Lweis, a Junior Assistant Clerk.
(b)
He was beaten because he went to serve summons to the victims to appear as the
witness in court which they disliked.
(c)
‘Victims’ means the persons on whom summons were to served.
(d)
The chapter is ‘The Hack Driver’.
Question 2.
I even
considered fleeing to my hometown, where I could have been a real lawyer right
away, without going through this unpleasant training period.
(a) Who was ‘I’ ?
(b) How
did T suffer during the training period ?
(c)
What do the word, ‘fleeing’ mean ?
(d)
Which word is the antonymn of happy in the passage ?
Answer:
(a) T is narrator, Junior Assitant Clerk.
(b)
During his training period, he was sent to the dirty and shadowy comers of the
city to serve summons n a man, called Oliver Lutking witness in a law suit.
(c)
‘fleeing’ means ‘running away’.
(d)
Unpleasant.
So I rejoiced one day when
they sent me out forty miles in the country, to a town called New Mullion, to
serve summons n a man, called Oliver Lutking
(a) Whot is T ?
(b) Why was T sent to New
Mullion ?
(c) What does the word,
‘rejoiced’ mean ?
(d) The summons were served
for
Answer:
(a) T is the narrator, a junior assistant clerk.
(b) ‘ I’ the narrator
was sent to New Mullion to serve summons on a man, called Oliver Lutkins who
was a witness in a law suit.
(c) ‘happy’.
(d) Oliver Lutkins
Question 4.
I was
glad the fare money would go to this good fellow. I managed to bargain down to
two dollars an hour, and then he brought from his house nearby a sort of large
black box on wheels. He remarked, “Well, young man, here’s the carriage”, and
his wide smile made me into an old friend.
(a)
What made the narrator glad ?
(b) Did
the other person charge anything from the narrator ?
(c)
What does the word ‘bargain’ mean ?
(d)
What was the landmark of his house ?
Answer:
(a) The narrator became glad to find out that a delivery man was willing to
help him in finding out the hack driver.
(b)
He charged two dollars an hour for his work.
(c)
Negotiate the terms and conditions of a transaction.
(d)
A large black box on wheels.
Question 5.
I took
him into my confidence and told him that I wanted to serve the summons on
Lutkins—that the man had refused to be a witness, when his information would
have quickly settled our case.
(a) Was
the narrator right in taking the other person into his confidence ?
(b) Why
was that person desired ?
(c)
Find out a word from the passage that means nearly the same as ‘without any
delay’.
(d)
Name the author of the chapter.
Answer:
(a) No, the narrator was not right in taking the other person into his
confidence. In fact, he was befooled by that man in the name of help.
(b) He was the prime witness in a law case.
(c)
‘quickly’.
(d)
Sinclain Lewis.
Short Answer Type
Questions
(30-40 words & 2
marks each)
Question 1. Why was the lawyer not happy with his job ?
Answer: Value Points:
Made
to deliver summons instead peparing legal briefs, had to go to dirty and
shadowy corners of the city. Feared being beaten up by witnesses.
Detailed
Answer:
The
lawyers was not happy with the job because he was made to deliver summns,
instead of prepaing legal briefs.For that task, he had to go to dirty and
shadowy corners of the city. He also fearwed of being beaten up bythe
witnesses.
Question
2. Who was
Lutkins ? Did the narrator serve the summons that day ? Why ?
Answer:
Oliver
Lutkins was a man from New Mullion who was to be served a summon to testify for
a pending court case. The narrator, the lawyer who was assigned the task, was
cleverly tricked by Lutkins who exploited the gullibility of former and helped
him chase himself, thus subjecting him to ridicule by the village folk. No, the
lawyer could not serve the summons that day for its obvious reason.
Question
3. What
attitude did the lawyer have to the country life ? How did his experience at
New Mullion change it?
Answer:
The
lawyer was under the impression that away from the hustle and bustle of city
life, the people in the country led a pleasant, simple, honest, helpful and
peaceful life. But his experience in New Mullion with the smart hack driver,
who himself was Oliver Lutkins—who humiliated and befooled him with his clever
tricks and quick thinking, made the lawyer change his overview of the
countrylife.
Question
4. Who
befriended the narrator when he went to New Mullion ? Where did he take him
?
Answer:
The
hack driver who himself was Oliver Lutkins, befriended the narrator when he
went to New Mullion in locating Lutkins against whom he had a summon. They went
to Bieneke, Gustaffson’s, Gray barber’s shop and finally to Lutkin’s house. In
this way, the hack driver took the lawyer all around the village to search for
Lutkins.
Question
5. Who was
Oliver Lutkins ? How did he try to fool the young lawyer ?
Answer:
Oliver
Lutkins was a middle-aged person from New Mullion town. He was the prime
witness in a law case. When the lawyer was sent to his town to serve the
summons, he fooled him by befriending him as a hack driver who was willing to
help him. He takes him all around the town but they were unable to find
Lutkins.
Question
6. What
did the hack driver tell the narrator about Lutkin’s mother ?
OR
What does Bill say about Lutkin’s mother ?
Answer:
The
hack driver told the young lawyer that Lutkin’s mother was quite a terror. She
was nine feet tall and four feet thick. She had the agility of a cat and could
talk a lot.
Question
7. With
what impression did the lawyer come back to the city ?
Answer:
At
New Mullion, the lawyer was greatly impressed by the cheerfulness of Bill, the
hack driver and his eagerness to help him in the task for which he had arrived
there. Oblivious to the identity of the hack driver as Lutkins himself, he
presumed the hospitality offered to him as the general attitude of the country
folk. He was so impressed by the simplicity and forthcoming behaviour of Bill
that he decided that he would settle at New Mullion.
Long Answer Type
Questions
(100-120 words & 8
marks each)
Question
1. Why was
the lawyer sent to New Mullion ? Why could the lawyer not complete his work on
that day ?
Answer:
The
lawyer used to work as an apprentice with a law firm. He had to serve summons
on witnesses as a part of his job. He was sent to New Mullion to serve summons
on Oliver Lutkins, a prime witness in a law case. When he reached the town and
was making enquiries about Lutkins, he met a hack driver who’Was in fact
Lutkins and took him to many places like Beincke’s, Gustaff’s barber shop, Gray’s
barber shop, poolroom and his mother’s farmyard. At every place they went in
(first and then when the lawyer went) people said that he had not come there or
just missed him by five minutes. The hack driver told the lawyer that Lutkins
owed him money also and thus he appeared a genuine and helpful person to the
lawyer. Thus Lutkins, very cleverly, fooled the lawyer and he (the lawyer) was
not able to complete his work that day.
Question
2. Do you
think Lutkins was right in befooling the lawyer and earning money by using
unfair means ? What precautions should be taken to avoid a situation like the
one in which the lawyer was placed ?
Answer:
Oliver
Lulkins had taken undue advantage of the lawyer’s gullibility and taking him
around the village, chasing himself. He not only charged him money for the
‘service’ but also subjected him to immense ridicule. Such dishonest and
unethical behaviour can never be endorsed and is highly undesirable.
All
the narration is a word of caution to all the readers to beware of such people
who are always on the prawl to grab an opportunity to cheat and not be trusted
by strangers.
Question
3. What
really hurt the feelings of the narrator in the story, ‘The Hack Driver’ ?
Answer:
The
narrator was under the impression that the country people were honest, simple
and helpful. Such impression made him gullible because he was easily befooled
by the hack driver who himself was Oliver Lutkins. The narrator was hurt when
Lutkins and his mother laughed at him. He felt like a fool who was easily
coaxed into believing that Lutkins was someone else whereas Lutkins was with
him the whole day.
He
felt really shameful on his act and realised that he should have done his
homework more carefully about finding out the details of Oliver Lutkins.
Question
4. Attempt
the character sketch of the Hack Driver.
Answer:
Oliver
Lufkin’s ‘Hack Driver’ comes across as a clever person who has little
consideration for others and exploits their gullibility to his convenience. He
cheats the lawyer on the pretext of helping him in locating Lutkins and thereby
extracts money from him in an unfair manner.
The fact that he laughs at him the following day when lawyer delivers the
summon, shows that he lacks scruples and it is remorseless. He seems to have
little respect for law as he has disobeyed the earlier summons.
But the narration also depicts him as a person with a sense of humour that one
almost forgives his tricks as a practical joke.
Value Based Question
Question
1. One should be beware of Conmen ? Why ?
Answer:
In
‘Oliver Lutkins’ the narrator represents a section of the society, that we
refer to as conmen who are lurking about in the guise of pleasant friendly
individuals who are eager to help others, but have no morals or principles to guide
their conscience and do not think twice before cheating others.
As
sensible individuals, we must beware of such people and practice caution while
dealing with strangers. The lawyer in the narration had been gullible to the
extent of being foolish and hence became an object of ridicule.
Extract Based Questions
[3 Marks each]
Read
the following extracts carefully and answer the questions that follow.
Question
1. I was
sent, not to prepare legal briefs, but to serve summons, like a cheap
detective.
(a) At
what post was T working?
(b) Why
was he not given legal briefs to prepare?
(c)
Find a word meaning ‘court order’ from the given extract.
(d)
What is the present tense of ‘sent’?
Answer:
(a) T was working as a junior assistant clerk.
(b)
Probably because he was inexperienced, he was not given legal briefs to
prepare.
(c)
‘Summons’ from the extract means ‘court order’.
(d)
‘Send’ is its present tense.
Question
2. He was
so open and friendly that I glowed with the warmth of his affection. I knew, of
course, that he wanted the business, but his kindness was real.
(a) Who
is ‘he’ in these lines?
(b)
Give an instance of his kindness.
(c)
Find a word from the extract which means ‘a gentle feeling of fordness’.
(d) What is the opposite of kindness?
Answer:
(a) ‘He’ in these lines is Bill Magnuson, the hack driver.
(b) He offered to take the narrator through the village and find Lutkins.
(c) ‘Affection’ from the extract means ‘a gentle feeling of fondness’.
(d) Cruelty’ is the opposite of ‘kindness’.
Question 3. So we pursued him, just
behind him, but never catching him, for an hour till it was past one o’ clock,
(a) Who was pursuing whom?
(b) Why were they pursuing
him?
(c) Which word in the
extract is a synonym of ‘followed’?
(d) What is the opposite of
‘behind’?
Answer:
(a) The narrator and Bill were pursuing Lutkins.
(b) They were pursuing
him because the lawyer had to serve him a summons.
(c) ‘pursued’ in the extract, is the synonym of‘followed’.
(d) ‘ahead’ is its
opposite.
Question
4. What
really hurt me was that when I served the summons, Lutkins and his mother
laughed at me as though I were a bright boy of seven.
(a)
What hurt the narrator?
(b) Why
did the two laugh?
(c)
Which word in the extract is a synonym of ‘delivered1?
(d)
What is the opposite of ‘bright’?
Answer:
(a) The laughter of Lutkins and his mother hurt the narrator.
(b) The two laughed because they had been successful in fooling him.
(c) ‘served’ from the extract is the synonym of ‘delivered’.
(d) Its opposite is ‘dull’.
Question
5. I had
to go to dirty and shadowy comers of the city to seek out my victims. Some of
the larger and more self-confident ones even beat me up.
(a) Who
is ‘I’?
(b)
What was the nature of Ts job?
(c)
Find a word from the extract which means find’.
(d)
What is the opposite of ‘dirty’?
Answer:
(a) ‘I’ is the young lawyer who is the narrator of the story.
(b)
The nature of his job was to serve summons on people who were required to present
themselves in the court.
(c)
‘Seek out’ from the extract means ‘find’.
(d)
Its opposite is ‘dean’.
Question
6. When I
got to New Mullion, my eager expectations of a sweet and simple country village
were severely disappointed. Its streets were rivers of mud, with rows of wooden
shops, either painted a sour brown, or bare of any paint at all.
(a) Who
is T?
(b) Why
was T disappointed?
(c)
What does the word ‘expectations’ mean?
(d)
What is the opposite of ‘disappointed’?
Answer:
(a) ‘I’ is the young lawyer who is the narrator of the story.
(b) T was disappointed because he did not like the muddy streets and unpainted
looks of the shops.
(c)
It means ‘a brief about how good something will be’.
(d)
Its opposite is’‘pleased’.
Short Answer Type Questions
[2 Marks each]
Question
1. Why did
the narrator call his work unpleasant?
Answer:
The
narrator was sent to serve summons. He had to go to all sorts of dirty and
dangerous places. At times, he was also beaten by those very people. That is
why he called his work unpleasant.
Question
2. Describe
the hack driver’s appearance in your own words.
Answer:
The
hack driver looked to be about forty years in age. His face was red. He wore
dirty and worn out clothes but he was cheerful.
Question
3. Why
does the hack driver offer to ask about Oliver Lutkins?
Answer:
The
hack driver was none other than Oliver Lutkins himself. He did not wish to take
the summons and go as a witness. So, he pretended to be a hack driver. He
offered to help the lawyer so that the lawyer could not come to know about him
from someone else.
Question
4. ‘But he was no more dishonest than I’. Explain.
Answer:
The
narrator meant to say that the hack driver was as dishonest as him because he
was getting paid for riding the narrator on his cart on the pretence of helping
him.
Question
5. The
narrator was happy though he had not found Lutkins. Why?
Answer:
The
narrator had hated city life. This ride through the village made him very
happy. He was overjoyed to meet the hack driver. So he was happy though he had
not found Lutkins.
Question
6. What
impressed the narrator most about Bill? Mention any two things.
Answer:
The
first quality that struck the narrator was that Bill was a cheerful, friendly
and helpful man. Secondly, he loved Bill for his simple and philosophical
wisdom.
Question
7. How did
the chief react when the narrator returned to his town?
Answer:
The
chief was furious at the narrator’s failure to serve summons on Lutkins. He
decided to send a man who knew Ltutkins with the narrator the next day to serve
summons on Lutkins.
Question
8. How
does the narrator find Lutkins eventually?
Answer:
The
narrator’s companion had seen Lutkins. When the narrator pointed opt the hack
driver to him, he told him that the hack driver was Lutkins himself. In this
way, the narrator found Lutkins eventually.
Question
9. Why did
Lutkins pretend to be Bill Magnuson?
Answer: Lutkins pretended to be
Bill Magnuson as he did not want to accept the summons and be a witness in the
case.
Question
10. What
did the hack driver tell the narrator about Lutkins’mother?
Answer:
The
hack driver told the narrator that Lutkins’ mother was a real terror. He
described her as a large and hefty lady with a fierce temper. He also said that
she was quick as a cat.
Question
11. How did
the hack driver befool the lawyer?
Answer:
The
hack driver was able to befool him as he had not seen Lutkins before. He took
him around the village on the protect of searching for Lutkins.
Long Answer (Volue
Based) Type Questions
[8 Marks each]
Question
1. The
narrator strikes us as a romantic idealist, Do you agree? Support your answer
from the text.
Answer:
The
narrator is definitely a romantic idealist. He is fresh out of law school. He
wants to have a real case. But, as a part of training, he is sent to serve
summons. He finds it difficult to understand. He simply dislikes his job as he
has to go to all dirty places. Further, he has a very romantic | view of the
country. He believes that villages are all pure and peaceful. There is no
ugliness of the city in them. He I also thinks that villagers are very honest
and decent people. He has a habit of trusting people blindly. He believes in
whatever someone says. In fact, he is very gullible. Later on, he realises that
a village can also be ugly. He also experiences that villagers are not always
simple and honest.
Question
2. Describe ‘Bill’ as seen through the
eyes of the narrator.
Answer:
The
narrator was much impressed with Bill. He first meets him at the station. He
finds him to be friendly and cheerful. Bill is very helpful in his eyes as he
offers to take him around in search of Lutkins. The narrator admires him when
he goes looking for Lutkins on his behalf. Bill is full of a wonderful village
charm. The narrator finds Bill to have a unique country wisdom. He admires him
as a story teller. He appreciates him a lot when Bill even goes to Lutkins’
mother’s place to find him. For the narrator, Bill is a friendly man who helps
others generously. He is so impressed by Bill that he decides to settle down in
the village.
Question
3. ‘Appearances are often deceptive’. Comment on the statement in the light of your
reading of the story.
Answer:
Things
are not always what they seem to be. Appearances are often deceptive. The narrator
reaches a village in the search of Oliver Lutkins. He meets a hack driver at
the station. The driver warns him about Lutkins. He takes him on a tour of the
entire village in search of Lutkins. He tells the narrator about his
experiences and about the village and its people. The narrator likes him for
his helpful and kind nature.
He even forgets all about Lutkins. But, the next day he finds out that the hack
driver was Oliver Lutkins himself. He realises that a simple and kind person
was a trickster in reality.
Question
4. Do you
think Lutkins was right in befooling the lawyer and earning money by using
unfair means? What precautions should one take to avoid a situation like the
one in which the lawyer was placed?
Answer:
Lutkins
was not right in befooling the lawyer and earning money by using unfair means.
This shows that Lutkins did not care for the law at all. If we are in the
lawyer’s place, we should not believe in things as they are seen. We should
judge every action taken by the other person carefully before accepting it.
Instead of depending on others, we should carry out our enquiries ourselves.
The lawyer was befooled because he let Lutkins do the finding and questioning
and did not do anything himself. This resulted in his failure to serve the
summons on Lutkins.
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