East of Eden, Chapter 25 quiz

Questions and answers

1. 1

   Question 1. How does Tom Hamilton learn that Samuel has died?

   • A letter reaches the ranch several days after the funeral
   • A neighbor rides over to the ranch to tell him in person
   • Correct answer: A boy gallops up and flings a telegram down in the yard
   • He is already in Salinas when his sister Olive tells him

   A small boy on a tired horse throws a yellow envelope on the ground and rides off without a word, leaving Tom to open the telegram alone.

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2. 2

   Question 2. What does Adam Trask do after he refuses George's offer of a ride from the cemetery?

   • He goes back to Olive's house with the family
   • Correct answer: He stays behind and wanders around the cemetery
   • He helps the Hamilton sons fill in the grave
   • He catches the afternoon train back to King City

   George offers Adam a lift in his rented surrey, but Adam refuses; he wanders around the cemetery and sits down on the cement curb of the Williams family plot. The chapter gives no reason for the refusal.

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3. 3

   Question 3. What does Mr. Lapierre tell Adam when Adam asks about a place called Kate's?

   • Correct answer: That he should go to Jenny's next door and let Kate alone
   • That he will send a boy to walk him down to the Line himself
   • That nobody in Salinas will admit to knowing where the house is
   • That the sheriff closed Kate's house down more than a year ago

   The bartender refuses to explain what is wrong with Kate's and simply repeats that Adam should go to Jenny's instead.

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4. 4

   Question 4. What is Kate doing at her desk just before Eva knocks to announce a visitor?

   • Reading the Salinas paper's account of Samuel's funeral
   • Counting the week's receipts and locking them in her safe
   • Writing letters to the men whose names fill her cabinets
   • Correct answer: Sorting photographs into piles and slipping them into envelopes

   She arranges the flash-lit photographs into four piles, slides each pile into a heavy manila envelope, and hides them in a pigeonhole when Eva knocks.

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5. 5

   Question 5. Why does Adam hold off on drinking the rum Kate pours for him?

   • Correct answer: He will not touch it until she has drunk from her own glass
   • He is waiting for her to leave the room so he can pour it out
   • He has already had more than enough to drink for one evening
   • He wants to keep a clear head for what he came there to say

   Adam keeps glancing at her untouched glass and finally admits he could not take the chance, reminding her that she once shot him.

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6. 6

   Question 6. What reason does Kate give for hating Samuel Hamilton?

   • He once turned her away when she came to him for help
   • He told the whole valley what kind of house she was running
   • He refused to help her the night the twins were being born
   • Correct answer: He looked into her, she says, and that was reason enough

   Asked why she hated Samuel, Kate answers that he looked into her; later she also calls him a liar and a hypocrite and says she is glad he is dead.

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7. 7

   Question 7. What claim does Kate make to wound Adam near the end of their conversation?

   • That Samuel Hamilton knew the truth and kept it from him
   • That she poisoned the well water at the Trask ranch
   • Correct answer: That his brother Charles may be the father of the twins
   • That she has already written to the boys about their mother

   Kate says a fool always leaves an opening, then asks how Adam knows he is the father and tells him she was not too hurt for his brother.

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8. 8

   Question 8. How does Adam respond after Ralph knocks him to the floor?

   • He swings back and is beaten until Kate finally calls Ralph off
   • Correct answer: He tells Kate it does not matter and walks out under his own power
   • He begs Kate to take back what she has just told him about Charles
   • He calls for the sheriff and threatens to shut the house down

   Adam gets to his knees, says the love he had for her took quite a killing, and leaves without giving Kate the reaction she wants.

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9. 9

   Question 9. Which of these events actually happen in Chapter 25?

   • Tom lays out a dark suit and then lies down with his face to the wall.

     Happened

     After reading the telegram, Tom lays his dark suit over a chair with a white shirt and black tie, then lies down on his bed and turns his face to the wall.

   • Adam rides back to the reception at Olive's house in George's surrey.

     Didn't happen

     George offers Adam a lift in his rented surrey, but Adam refuses and wanders around the cemetery instead.

   • Adam lays the wind-scattered flowers back on the new grave.

     Happened

     The wind has frayed the flowers on the mound and flung the smaller bouquets into the path, and Adam picks them up and lays them back.

   • Tom travels down to Salinas on the morning train with Adam.

     Didn't happen

     The chapter says only that Adam came up on the morning train; it never shows Tom traveling with him.

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10. 10

    Question 10. Which of these things happen inside Kate's house?

    • Kate checks a short-barreled revolver and hides it under a sheet of paper.

      Happened

      After Eva leaves, Kate takes a short-barreled revolver from her desk drawer, looks at the cartridges, and lays a sheet of paper over it.

    • Kate shows Adam photographs she uses to blackmail respectable men.

      Happened

      Kate shows Adam pictures of a state senator, a councilman, a professor and a minister, and says that if anything happens to her, letters with the pictures will go in the mail.

    • Kate fires a shot at Adam as he moves toward the door.

      Didn't happen

      Kate never fires the revolver; when she screams, Ralph bursts in and knocks Adam to the floor with a blow under the ear.

    • Ralph kicks Adam in the face when Kate orders him to use the boots.

      Didn't happen

      Ralph holds back, saying Adam is not fighting back; when he later asks whether she still wants the boots, Kate does not answer.

    • Kate drinks rum even though she insists that liquor poisons her.

      Happened

      Kate says liquor makes her sick and poisons her, yet she tosses down her rum and keeps refilling her glass.

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11. 11

    Question 11. What does 'garrulousness' mean as used in: "He felt a garrulousness coming on him and he was frightened at the impulse."?

    • A rush of anger he cannot explain
    • A feeling of shame about his appearance
    • Correct answer: A sudden urge to talk far too much
    • A wave of physical sickness and dizziness

    Garrulousness is excessive talkativeness. The rum loosens Adam's tongue, and the impulse frightens him because of what he is about to ask.

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12. 12

    Question 12. What does 'dilapidated' mean as used in: "he could see the sagging dilapidated porch and the shaky steps"?

    • Freshly built and not yet painted
    • Correct answer: Fallen into ruin through age and neglect
    • Crowded with furniture and clutter
    • Hidden from the road by heavy planting

    Dilapidated means decayed and falling apart. The ruined exterior is the opposite of the rich, orderly rooms Adam finds inside.

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13. 13

    Question 13. What does 'congealed' mean as used in: "Her rage congealed to poison."?

    • Correct answer: Thickened and set into a solid mass
    • Turned suddenly into laughter
    • Faded away into nothing
    • Boiled over into open violence

    To congeal is to thicken or clot. Kate's hot rage cools and hardens into something quieter and more dangerous once she sees Adam is free of her.

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