East of Eden, Chapter 33 quiz

Questions and answers

1. 1

   Question 1. What does Tom build for the old ranch after studying one in King City?

   • A steel windmill ordered from a King City shop
   • Correct answer: A flush toilet of craftily bent tin and carved wood
   • A gasoline engine for pumping the spring water
   • A threshing machine assembled from salvaged parts

   Tom studies a flush toilet in King City and then builds his own out of bent tin and carved wood, one of several improvements he makes during the good year.

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2. 2

   Question 2. What does Dessie propose to Tom back at the house after their walk up the hill?

   • That she reopen the dress shop she once ran in Salinas
   • That Tom sell the ranch and move in with their brother
   • Correct answer: That the two of them save for a year and travel abroad
   • That they both move to Salinas to be near their mother

   Dessie points out that their whole world is the valley, then suggests a year of saving followed by cheap passage to Europe.

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3. 3

   Question 3. How does Dessie propose to get the acorns gathered for Tom's pigs?

   • Correct answer: By offering the valley's children prizes in a contest
   • By trading the acorn crop to neighbors for feed corn
   • By hiring seasonal field hands from around King City
   • By finishing the acorn machine Tom had been designing

   Dessie calls children the greatest acorn picker in the world and plans a prize contest rather than paid work, since prizes will not feel like labor.

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4. 4

   Question 4. What does Will actually do when Tom brings him the pig and acorn scheme?

   • He refuses outright and offers Tom a steady job instead
   • He lends Tom the money for the shoats on the spot
   • He writes to their mother before making any decision
   • Correct answer: He agrees to think it over while privately seeing its merit

   Will punctures the plan in front of Tom but privately recognizes that shoats bought on credit and fattened cheaply could pay, and he even imagines giving Tom a Ford.

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5. 5

   Question 5. Why does Tom decide not to tell Will about the trip to Europe?

   • Dessie had made him promise to keep the plan secret
   • Will had already refused to help pay for such a trip
   • He wanted the journey to be a surprise for the whole family
   • Correct answer: A quick instinct warns him Will would think it madness

   Tom senses that to Will, traipsing around Europe would look like craziness that made the pig plan seem shrewd by comparison, so he says nothing.

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6. 6

   Question 6. What happens after Dessie swallows the dose Tom prepares for her?

   • Correct answer: She tries to bring the dose back up and the pain worsens
   • The doctor later confirms it was the right treatment
   • Tom recognizes his mistake at once and sends for help
   • She sleeps soundly through the night and wakes much improved

   Dessie drags herself to the new homemade toilet and tries to vomit the salts; when she tries to straighten up, her stomach muscles are set, and she grows worse through the night.

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7. 7

   Question 7. What does the imaginary trial in the final section reveal about Tom?

   • That he plans to leave the Salinas Valley for good
   • Correct answer: That his own conscience has convicted him of murder
   • That he intends to confess everything to the family doctor
   • That he blames Will for the delay in reaching the ranch

   Tom parades minor sins as jurors to screen the Gray One waiting behind them, and when it steps forward it is named Murder, meaning Dessie's death.

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8. 8

   Question 8. Why do Tom's two letters describe an accident with a horse?

   • So that Will could collect an insurance payment on the ranch
   • Because a doctor would have to sign for the cause of death
   • Correct answer: To spare his mother, who regarded suicide as cowardice and sin
   • Because the new gelding really had thrown and kicked him in the head

   Tom recalls that his mother lumps suicide together with bad manners, cowardice, and sin, so he asks Will to support the story that a horse killed him.

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9. 9

   Question 9. Which of these events actually occur in Chapter 33?

   • Tom rigs a redwood water tank fed by a windmill he made himself.

     Happened

     Tom puts a redwood tank beside the house and pumps water up to it with a handmade windmill that turns in the slightest wind.

   • Dessie finally tells Tom exactly what is wrong with her.

     Didn't happen

     Dessie keeps her pains a secret, calling them a little crick and later just a stomach ache; she never tells Tom what is wrong.

   • Tom rides bareback to a neighbor's house to reach a telephone.

     Happened

     After Dessie's struggle stops, Tom rides bareback to the Duncans' house on the county road, breaks in their door, and telephones for Dr. Tilson.

   • Will drives out to the ranch to hand Tom the money for the pigs.

     Didn't happen

     Tom drives in to see Will, who only agrees to think the pig plan over; Will brings Tom no money.

   • Dessie names her scheme the Great Monterey County Acorn Contest.

     Happened

     Dessie tells Tom she will call her plan The Great Monterey County Acorn Contest, with prizes instead of pay.

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10. 10

    Question 10. Which of these happen in the final section, after Dessie's funeral?

    • Tom turns his horse loose to graze on any unfenced ground.

      Happened

      Back from the funeral, Tom waters, feeds, and unsaddles his horse, then turns him free to graze on any unfenced ground.

    • Tom burns the letters he has written and starts over.

      Didn't happen

      Tom wonders whether his letter to his mother is good enough but is too tired to write it again; he stamps both letters and mails them in King City.

    • Tom hears his father's voice telling him to open the table drawer.

      Happened

      In Tom's mind his absent father answers him and tells him to open the table drawer, where Tom finds paper and pencils.

    • Tom puts a single shell in the cylinder of his revolver.

      Happened

      Tom loads one shell into his Smith and Wesson .38 and sets the loaded chamber one space to the left of the firing pin.

    • Steinbeck describes the gunshot and Tom's body on the page.

      Didn't happen

      The chapter ends with Tom mailing his letters and riding south toward the hills at three in the morning; the shot is never described.

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11. 11

    Question 11. What does dissembling mean as used in: "dissembling successfully is one of the creative joys of a businessman"?

    • Keeping careful written records of a bargain
    • Correct answer: Concealing your real feelings or intentions
    • Taking a machine apart in order to study it
    • Arguing a point until the other side gives way

    Dissembling is putting up a false front. Will hides genuine interest behind a flat, discouraging manner, a skill Tom never learns.

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12. 12

    Question 12. What does acumen mean as used in: "would make the pig plan a marvel of business acumen"?

    • Stubborn unwillingness to take any risk
    • A large sum of borrowed working capital
    • A signed contract between two partners
    • Correct answer: Sharp practical judgment in business matters

    Acumen means keen practical judgment. The narrator jokes that next to a European tour, even Tom's pig scheme would look shrewd to Will.

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13. 13

    Question 13. What does lucent mean as used in: "the dissolving crystals still turning over and lucent bubbles rising"?

    • Cloudy, dim, and hard to see through
    • Heavy enough to sink to the bottom
    • Correct answer: Glowing or shining with clear light
    • Bitter and unpleasant to the taste

    Lucent means shining or clear. The remembered image of the bright glass is what Tom's memory fastens on as evidence against himself.

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