East of Eden, Chapter 22 quiz

Questions and answers

1. 1

   Question 1. Why does Samuel Hamilton ride to the Trask ranch in Chapter 22?

   • To check on the progress of Adam's well-drilling project
   • To hand over the proceeds from selling the windmill equipment
   • To deliver a package of imported delicacies from Will's store
   • Correct answer: To rouse Adam from his stupor and get the twins named

   In King City, Lee tells Samuel that Adam "still walks around like a ghost" and has not named the twins, and Liza warns Samuel there will be no warm place at home for him unless he gets the boys named.

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2. 2

   Question 2. What physical action does Samuel take to shock Adam out of his paralysis?

   • Correct answer: He knocks Adam into the dust with his fists, twice
   • He throws cold water on Adam's face
   • He discharges the gun Adam orders Lee to bring
   • He punishes Adam with the horse whip he had promised

   Samuel grips Adam's throat, then "struck him with a work-heavy fist, and Adam sprawled out in the dust"; when Adam rises, Samuel strikes him again, and this time Adam does not get up.

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3. 3

   Question 3. What does Samuel read aloud during the naming discussion?

   • Adam's letters from his years in the army
   • A condensed history of the Salinas Valley
   • Correct answer: The sixteen verses of the Cain and Abel story from Genesis 4
   • A chapter of Chinese philosophy in translation

   Samuel reads the whole Cain and Abel passage — 'Sixteen verses, no more,' he says — and the three men argue over its meaning until the evening comes.

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4. 4

   Question 4. What does Lee say about the Cain and Abel story in Chapter 22?

   • That the story is too dark to name children from
   • Correct answer: That it is 'everybody's story' — 'the symbol story of the human soul'
   • That the story proves evil is inherited by blood
   • That God condemned Cain unjustly and the story is a warning

   Lee calls it the best-known story in the world because it is everybody's story — the child's terror of rejection, the anger that follows, and the guilt that comes after the crime.

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5. 5

   Question 5. Why is the name Joshua rejected for one of the twins?

   • Correct answer: Adam dislikes soldiering, so the soldier-general Joshua is set aside
   • Samuel worries that Liza would consider a military name inappropriate
   • Lee considers the names too common and unremarkable
   • Adam insists on naming them after his own father Cyrus

   Samuel offers Caleb and Joshua, the two who reached the Promised Land. Adam turns down Joshua — 'I don't like soldiering' — and the second boy is named for Aaron, who didn't make it to the Promised Land.

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6. 6

   Question 6. Which name does Samuel say Liza would have preferred for one of the twins?

   • Caleb, for a captain who reached the Promised Land
   • Correct answer: Joshua, for the crashing walls of Jericho
   • Abel, for the keeper of sheep in Genesis
   • Samuel, for the name the Lord God called clear

   Samuel says, "Liza would have preferred Joshua. She loves the crashing walls of Jericho." But she likes Aaron too, so he guesses the names will do.

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7. 7

   Question 7. What happens when Adam starts to say, "I didn’t kill my brother"?

   • He describes how Charles once attacked him in Connecticut
   • He excuses himself and retreats silently into the house
   • Correct answer: He stops short, and his mind goes reeling back in time
   • He dismisses the ancient story as irrelevant to his family

   Adam breaks off mid-sentence as his mind goes "reeling back in time." Lee says he does not want to know what Adam remembered, but asks whether it was "very far apart from Cain and Abel."

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8. 8

   Question 8. Which of these events actually occur in Chapter 22 of East of Eden?

   • Samuel Hamilton knocks Adam into the dust with his fists to rouse him from his stupor.

     Happened

     Samuel "struck him with a work-heavy fist, and Adam sprawled out in the dust," then struck him again when Adam got up.

   • Lee reads the men his translations of old Chinese poetry.

     Didn't happen

     Lee says he has been translating old Chinese poetry into English, then tells Samuel, "No, don’t worry. I won’t read it."

   • Cathy returns briefly to see the twins before disappearing again.

     Didn't happen

     Cathy does not appear; Adam asks Samuel whether there has been "any news of her," and Samuel says he has heard nothing.

   • The men settle on the names Caleb and Aaron for the twin boys.

     Happened

     Samuel offers Caleb and Joshua, Adam takes Caleb, and Samuel adds Aaron; Adam says, "That one is Caleb and you are Aaron."

   • Liza forbids Samuel to take any Bible with him to the Trask place.

     Didn't happen

     Liza does not want the family Bible out of the house, so she gives Samuel her mother's small, worn Bible to take instead.

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9. 9

   Question 9. Which of these statements about Samuel's visit to the Trask place are accurate?

   • Samuel proposes Caleb and Joshua, the two who reached the Promised Land.

     Happened

     Samuel says that of all who started out of Egypt "only two came to the Promised Land," and he names them: Caleb and Joshua.

   • Adam rejects the name Joshua because he dislikes soldiering.

     Happened

     Adam answers, "Joshua was a soldier—a general. I don’t like soldiering."

   • Adam tells Samuel his dream of building a garden has gone out of him.

     Happened

     As Samuel hitches up to leave, Adam says of the garden on the flat land, "I think that kind of energy is gone out of me."

   • Samuel agrees that Adam should give up his dream and start fresh elsewhere.

     Didn't happen

     Samuel, his eyes filled with tears, tells Adam the dream will not die: "I tell you it won’t ever die until you do."

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10. 10

    Question 10. What does 'gaunt' mean as used when Adam is 'more gaunt than Samuel remembered'?

    • Boastful and showy, especially about one's own success
    • Cheerful and lively, especially in manner or step
    • Upright and rigid, especially in posture or bearing
    • Correct answer: Lean and haggard, especially from suffering or strain

    Gaunt means lean and haggard. When Samuel arrives, Adam is more gaunt than Samuel remembered, his eyes dull from disuse.

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11. 11

    Question 11. What does "mediocrity" mean when Samuel says, "I’m glad I chose mediocrity"?

    • Deep and quiet thought, especially for religious purposes
    • Intervention to settle a dispute between two parties
    • Calm moderation, especially in eating and drinking
    • Correct answer: The state of being ordinary; middling quality or ability

    Mediocrity is the state of being ordinary, neither great nor poor. Samuel says greatness "must be the loneliest state in the world" and that he is glad he chose the ordinary life instead.

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12. 12

    Question 12. What does 'contentious' mean as used when Liza calls Samuel 'the most contentious man'?

    • Correct answer: Quarrelsome; given to argument and dispute
    • Diligent; careful and guided by conscience
    • Scornful; showing contempt for other people
    • Satisfied; contented and peaceful in spirit

    Contentious means quarrelsome or given to dispute. Liza tells Samuel he is the most contentious man the world has ever seen, then scolds him for agreeing with her.

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