East of Eden, Chapter 26 quiz

Questions and answers

1. 1

   Question 1. Where is Adam Trask returning from as Chapter 26 opens?

   • Correct answer: From Samuel Hamilton's funeral in Salinas
   • From a visit to his brother in Connecticut
   • From a doctor's appointment in Monterey
   • From a cattle sale up in King City

   The chapter opens on the train back to King City from Salinas, where Adam had buried Samuel and gone to see Kate.

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2. 2

   Question 2. What does Adam do first after getting off the train in King City?

   • He goes straight to the livery stable for his horse
   • Correct answer: He walks to Will Hamilton's garage to buy a car
   • He wires Lee to send the buggy in for him
   • He stops at a saloon and keeps on drinking

   Buying an automobile is the first concrete sign of Adam's new appetite for the world.

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3. 3

   Question 3. How does Adam choose to pay for the automobile?

   • By trading in his horse and buggy
   • On credit against next year's crop
   • Correct answer: In cash, the whole amount at once
   • In monthly payments with interest

   Will pushes an installment plan, but Adam says there would be no point in putting it off.

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4. 4

   Question 4. How does Will Hamilton think a man should mourn?

   • By taking over his father's forge and ranch
   • By keeping the whole family together under one roof
   • By working the grief out alone on the land
   • Correct answer: By losing himself in business rather than drink

   Will thinks his own way of mourning is more dignified than Tom's, who went from the funeral straight to San Francisco.

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5. 5

   Question 5. How does Will describe his mother to Adam after the funeral?

   • A quiet woman who left everything to Olive
   • A gentle woman who will not last the winter
   • Correct answer: A rock and a tower of strength who fed the mourners
   • A dreamer happiest with a book in her hands

   Will calls her remarkable and practical: she fried the chicken for the crowd on the day of her own husband's funeral.

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6. 6

   Question 6. What request does Lee make of Adam over tea?

   • Correct answer: That Adam free him to open a bookstore of his own
   • That Adam raise his wages and hire him some help
   • That Adam go back to Kate and settle things for good
   • That Adam send the twins to school in Salinas

   Lee answers Adam's announcement of freedom by asking whether a free man can free him in turn.

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7. 7

   Question 7. Why is Lee wary about agreeing to stay on a while longer?

   • He has already paid rent on a shop in Chinatown
   • He thinks the twins would rather be raised by their father
   • He is afraid Kate will come looking for him here
   • Correct answer: He is afraid of being held back just by being needed

   Lee says his wish is not as strong as it once was and warns Adam that need is the worst bait of all to a lonely man.

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8. 8

   Question 8. What does Lee call Samuel Hamilton at the end of the chapter?

   • The only man he ever enjoyed arguing with
   • Correct answer: His father, on whose grave he will lay roast pig
   • The best employer he could have hoped to find
   • A man who never really understood him at all

   Lee asks leave to go to Salinas to scatter devil papers and to put "a little roast pig on the grave of my father."

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9. 9

   Question 9. Which of these events actually occur in Chapter 26?

   • Adam orders an automobile from Will Hamilton.

     Happened

     Adam asks to be put on Will's list for a car, says he will pay cash, and Will promises him the first one that comes in.

   • Adam tells Lee he might even see a woman.

     Happened

     Over tea Adam tells Lee he is free, that he can live with his boys and might even see a woman.

   • Adam sells the ranch to Will before going home.

     Didn't happen

     Adam sells nothing to Will; at home he only tells Lee he may put the ranch in shape, or sell it or rent it.

   • Lee admits he has no money saved for his bookstore.

     Didn't happen

     Lee tells Adam he already has the money for his bookstore and has had it a long time.

   • Adam knocks over his cup and walks out of the house.

     Happened

     At the end of the chapter Adam gets up quickly, knocks over his cup and goes outside, leaving Lee sitting there.

   Read the passage
10. 10

    Question 10. Which of these details about the Hamiltons are given in Chapter 26?

    • Will says over two hundred people were at the cemetery.

      Happened

      Will tells Adam there were over two hundred people at the cemetery, and says the number twice.

    • Tom went from the funeral straight to San Francisco.

      Happened

      The narration says Tom went directly from the funeral to San Francisco, and Will suspects he is losing himself in drink.

    • Will predicts his mother will outlive them all.

      Happened

      Will says his mother will be all right and will outlive them all, little as she is.

    • Samuel is buried in the graveyard on the Trask ranch.

      Didn't happen

      Samuel was buried at a cemetery on Adam's trip to Salinas; nothing in the chapter puts his grave on the Trask ranch.

    • Will refuses to sell Adam a car out of loyalty to Samuel.

      Didn't happen

      Will promises to put Adam at the top of his list and give him the first car that comes in.

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11. 11

    Question 11. What does 'gaiety' mean as used in: "He felt young and free and filled with a hungry gaiety."

    • A plain physical hunger for food
    • Correct answer: Lighthearted cheerfulness and high spirits
    • A restless, gnawing sense of guilt
    • A dull and settled ache of grief

    Gaiety is buoyant good spirits; Steinbeck pairs it with hungry to show how starved Adam has been for ordinary joy.

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12. 12

    Question 12. What does 'Occidentals' mean in: "The trouble with you Occidentals is that you don't have devils to explain things with."

    • People who refuse to grieve openly
    • People who work with machines
    • People raised inside the church
    • Correct answer: People of the Western world

    Occidental means Western, as opposed to Eastern; Lee is teasing Adam about a whole culture, not about him alone.

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13. 13

    Question 13. What does 'clamor' mean in: "watch the activity of his mechanics without hearing the clamor of their work"

    • A slow and careful working pace
    • A crowd of waiting customers
    • Correct answer: A loud and continuous noise
    • A strong and unpleasant smell

    Clamor is din or racket; the glass wall lets Will see his shop without having to hear it.

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