East of Eden, Chapter 38 quiz

Questions and answers

1. 1

   Question 1. How does Cal get a detailed account of who Kate is in this chapter?

   • Correct answer: Drunk Rabbit Holman names her
   • Aron finds a letter in the cellar
   • Adam sits him down and explains
   • Lee tells the story at breakfast

   Rabbit Holman, drunk behind the Abbot House, names Kate as Adam Trask's wife, recalls the shooting, and takes Cal toward her house. Lee only confirms the facts afterward.

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2. 2

   Question 2. What sickens Cal about the visit to Kate's house?

   • The ten-dollar price of admission
   • The acts the women perform there
   • Correct answer: The faces of the men who watch
   • A private talk with Kate herself

   The acts seem silly to Cal. What makes him sick is the look on the watchers' faces, which he already sees in Rabbit under the streetlights.

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3. 3

   Question 3. According to Lee, why did Adam tell the boys their mother was dead?

   • Because Lee told him to lie
   • Correct answer: To spare the boys from pain
   • He thought she had really died
   • To protect Kate's reputation

   When Cal asks why Adam said she was dead, Lee answers that it was to save the boys from pain. Adam knew the truth.

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4. 4

   Question 4. What does Lee say Kate seems to lack?

   • Intelligence and will
   • Friends in Salinas
   • Beauty and money
   • Correct answer: Kindness or conscience

   Lee calls Kate a mystery who is not like other people and seems to lack kindness, maybe, or conscience. Her hatred, he says, is heartless rather than angry.

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5. 5

   Question 5. How does Adam explain the scar Cal sees in the bathroom?

   • A farming accident with a plow
   • A fight back in Connecticut
   • Correct answer: A wound from Indian campaigns
   • A fall from a runaway horse

   Adam says it is an old wound from the Indian campaigns and that he will tell Cal about it later. Cal sees him invent the lie rather than name Kate.

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6. 6

   Question 6. Which church does Aron join in this chapter?

   • Correct answer: The Episcopal church
   • The Methodist church
   • The Catholic church
   • The Presbyterian church

   Aron attends Episcopal services, is confirmed there, takes a place in the choir, and spends hours with the young clergyman Mr. Rolf.

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7. 7

   Question 7. What does Lee forbid Cal to do after Cal says he has Kate in him?

   • Walk the streets alone at night
   • Go back to Kate's house
   • Tell Aron the secret
   • Correct answer: Blame ancestry for his acts

   Lee tells Cal not to take the lazy way of excusing himself by ancestry. Whatever Cal does, it will be Cal who does it, not his mother.

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8. 8

   Question 8. What future does Aron announce to Abra?

   • He wants to work at the ice plant
   • Correct answer: He wants a life of celibacy
   • He wants to reopen the ranch
   • He wants a job in Adam's office

   Aron's religion takes a sexual turn: he speaks to Abra of abstinence and decides that he will live a life of celibacy. Abra agrees, hoping the phase will pass.

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9. 9

   Question 9. Which of these events actually occur in Chapter 38?

   • Cal has Louis Schneider buy Rabbit Holman a second pint.

     Happened

     When the whiskey in Rabbit's pint runs low, Cal slips away and gets Louis Schneider to buy another, which Rabbit takes for his own.

   • Cal sits down to a private conversation with Kate.

     Didn't happen

     Cal slips into Kate's house unnoticed among the waiting men; the chapter shows no talk between him and Kate.

   • Lee confirms that Kate shot Adam before she ran away.

     Happened

     When Cal asks whether she shot Adam, Lee answers yes, because Adam did not want her to go away.

   • Cal tells Aron the truth about their mother.

     Didn't happen

     Cal thinks of telling Aron, to see how he would handle it, but quickly withdraws the thought.

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10. 10

    Question 10. Which of these details are in Chapter 38?

    • Cal sees Adam's bullet scar while Adam is bathing.

      Happened

      Cal blunders into the bathroom while Adam is bathing, sees the ugly bullet scar and asks about it.

    • Aron is confirmed in the Episcopal church.

      Happened

      Aron is confirmed in the Episcopal church and takes his place in the choir on Sundays.

    • Lee uses the Hebrew word timshel in this talk with Cal.

      Didn't happen

      Lee never uses the word in this talk; he tells Cal that whatever he does, it will be Cal who does it, not his mother.

    • Adam admits to Cal that Kate is the one who shot him.

      Didn't happen

      Adam says the scar is an old wound from the Indian campaigns, and Cal sees his mind leap into the past for a lie.

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11. 11

    Question 11. What does 'ingenuousness' mean in: 'what was charming in the blond ingenuousness of Aron became suspicious and unpleasant'?

    • Calculated cruelty toward others
    • Physical strength and endurance
    • Quiet scholarship and bookishness
    • Correct answer: Innocent frankness or simplicity

    Ingenuousness is open, innocent simplicity. Aron wins people with that quality, while Cal's copy of it looks like an act.

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12. 12

    Question 12. What does 'sardonically' mean in: 'He thought sardonically of telling him about his mother'?

    • In a loudly argumentative tone
    • With timid and hesitant doubt
    • Correct answer: In a grimly mocking or cynical way
    • With sudden and helpless tears

    Sardonically means with bitter or cynical mockery. Cal briefly considers telling Aron about their mother to see how he would handle it, then withdraws the thought.

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13. 13

    Question 13. What does 'celibacy' mean in: 'he would live a life of celibacy'?

    • Correct answer: Abstaining from marriage and sex
    • Leaving home to study abroad
    • Taking a vow of total silence
    • Giving all money to the church

    Celibacy is abstaining from marriage and sexual relations. Aron announces it to Abra as part of his religious turn; she agrees while hoping it is a phase.

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