East of Eden, Chapter 48 quiz

Questions and answers

1. 1

   Question 1. Where does the rival madam lie in state at the start of Chapter 48?

   • In Kate's gray lean-to
   • Correct answer: At Muller's Funeral Chapel
   • In Griffin's Saloon on Main Street
   • At the Owl with Butch Beavers

   She lies for a day in Muller's Funeral Chapel in an ebony and silver casket with four candles at the corners, as her will demanded.

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2. 2

   Question 2. Who collars Joe outside the mortuary and talks about Faye?

   • Butch Beavers
   • Mr. Griffin
   • Correct answer: Alf Nichelson
   • The caretaker

   Coming out of the mortuary, Joe finds himself in step with Alf Nichelson, the jack-of-all-trades and town gossip who once built Kate's lean-to.

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3. 3

   Question 3. What did Alf once build for Kate?

   • A new front parlor
   • A locked cellar room
   • A grave marker in town
   • Correct answer: A windowless lean-to

   Alf recognizes Joe from the time he built a crazy lean-to for Kate with no window. Joe says she wanted it dark because her eyes bother her.

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4. 4

   Question 4. Which two ideas does Joe keep from Alf's talk at Griffin's?

   • Correct answer: Faye's death may be crooked; Kate may be Trask's wife
   • Adam Trask wants the house, and Muller knows Kate
   • Ethel is hiding in Natividad, and Jenny is dying
   • Thelma stole whiskey, and Helen went to the grave

   From a heap of conjecture Joe keeps two ideas: something may not have been on the level about Faye's death, and Kate might be the wife of Adam Trask.

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5. 5

   Question 5. After Kate tells Joe to forget Ethel, what does he say?

   • Ethel died at the funeral that morning
   • Alf already knows where Ethel lives
   • Ethel wrote Kate a letter from jail
   • Correct answer: A man he met said he saw Ethel here

   The sentence comes without Joe's expecting it: he met a fellow yesterday who said he saw Ethel, and when Kate asks where, Joe answers here.

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6. 6

   Question 6. What does Kate claim she wants to do about Ethel?

   • Hide her in the windowless lean-to
   • Send her to work at Jenny's
   • Correct answer: Find her and make it up to her
   • Have her arrested for old thefts

   After a rigid ten-second pause she asks where; when Joe says here, she turns and says she was wrong to have Ethel floated out of the county and wants him to find her so she can make it up, with money if he needs it.

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7. 7

   Question 7. Why does Helen say the house is bound to be slow that night?

   • Joe locked the front door early
   • Correct answer: It is the day before Thanksgiving
   • Kate closed the parlor for plumbing
   • The funeral scared off the customers

   When Kate asks if Helen has any regulars, Helen says no: it is the day before Thanksgiving and bound to be slow. Kate had forgotten.

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8. 8

   Question 8. Which of these events actually occur in Chapter 48?

   • Joe and Alf drink three beers apiece at Griffin's Saloon.

     Happened

     Joe and Alf sit at the round table at the back of Griffin's Saloon and have three beers apiece.

   • Joe trades Kate's current house secrets to Alf in return.

     Didn't happen

     Joe trades nothing; Alf grows restive because Joe has not given him one single piece of information or guess.

   • Thelma complains that Kate berated her over a vanilla milkshake.

     Happened

     Thelma tells Joe that Kate came into the kitchen and worked her over while she was shaking up a milkshake with vanilla extract.

   • Ethel comes into Joe's room and threatens to go to the police.

     Didn't happen

     It is Thelma, not Ethel, who taps on Joe's door and comes in, complaining about Kate.

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9. 9

   Question 9. Which of these happen in this chapter?

   • Kate says she had Ethel floated out of the county.

     Happened

     Kate reminds Joe that she got Ethel floated out of the county, then says she was wrong to think Ethel had done something to her.

   • Kate attends the cemetery and watches the grave filled.

     Didn't happen

     Kate does not go; she asks Helen about the funeral, and Helen says nobody went to the cemetery except the dead woman's husband.

   • Helen cannot remember what the dead woman wore.

     Happened

     Asked what the dead madam wore, Helen struggles to remember and finally says she does not know.

   • Joe takes money from Kate on the spot to start the search.

     Didn't happen

     Joe tells Kate he does not need money right now, though he will have to go out of the house more than he ought.

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10. 10

    Question 10. What does austerity mean in: 'buried in black austerity, as her will demanded'?

    • Correct answer: Severe plainness and lack of display
    • A loud public celebration of grief
    • A legal delay before burial
    • A secret clause in a will

    Austerity here is the stark style of the funeral: no flowers, no sermon, no grief on display, as the dead woman's will required.

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11. 11

    Question 11. What does palaver mean in: 'Probably nothing to all the palaver about her'?

    • A cash payment for silence
    • A medical diagnosis
    • A signed legal confession
    • Correct answer: Prolonged idle or fussy talk

    Palaver means prolonged or empty talk. Alf shrugs off the gossip about Kate as palaver even while he has spent the afternoon feeding it to Joe.

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12. 12

    Question 12. What does restive mean in: 'At the end of a couple of hours Alf was restive'?

    • Correct answer: Impatient because Joe gave nothing
    • Afraid to walk home in the wind
    • Rested and calm after the long talk
    • Satisfied with the trade

    Restive means uneasy or impatient under delay. Alf grows restive because Joe has traded him not one piece of information.

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