READ AND FIND
OUT PAGE 47
• Why
is the lawyer sent to New Mullion? What does he first think about the place?
Answer:
The lawyer is sent to New Mullion because a person by the name Lutkins who is
living there is to be issued a summons and it's the lawyer's job to issue
summons to him. He thinks that the place is a simple country village.
• Who
befriends him? Where does he take him?
Answer:
A guy who goes by the name Bill Magnuson befriends him, telling him that he is
a deliveryman at the station. He takes him to a lot of places where Lutkins can
be spotted: Gustaf's and Gray's shop, pool room, and even Lutkins' mother's
house.
• What
does he say about Lutkins?
Answer:
He says that Lutkins is good at deceiving people and that it is not very easy
to get hold of him.
READ AND FIND
OUT PAGE
50
• What
more does Bill say about Lutkins and his family?
Answer:
Bill tells the lawyer that he knows where Lutkins lives and that his mother is
a terrible person. He also said that she could talk a lot. As far as Lutkins
was concerned, Bill said he was great at deceiving people and that it was
difficult to get hold of him.
• Does
the narrator serve the summons that day?
Answer:
No, he is unable to find Lutkins and he doesn’t serve the summons that day.
• Who
is Lutkins?
Answer:
Lutkins is the hack driver who also seems to go by the name Bill.
THINK ABOUT
IT PAGE
53
1. When the lawyer reached New Mullion,
did ‘Bill’ know that he was looking for Lutkins? When do you think Bill came up
with his plan for fooling the lawyer?
Answer: No, ‘Bill’ did not know that the lawyer was
actually searching for Lutkins when he arrived at New Mullion. He thought of fooling the lawyer after
learning from the lawyer that he had come there to issue summons to Lutkins.
2. Lutkins openly takes the lawyer all
over the village. How is it that no one lets out the secret? (Hint: Notice that
the hack driver asks the lawyer to keep out of sight behind him when they go
into Fritz’s.) Can you find other such subtle ways in which Lutkins manipulates
the tour?
Answer:
Lutkins is very clever. He never allows the lawyer to directly interact with
the people and whatever is said to the lawyer by Lutkins is taken at face
value. He does his best to manipulate and deceive the lawyer.
3. Why do you think Lutkins’ neighbours
were anxious to meet the lawyer?
Answer:
As they had not got a chance to meet the lawyer, Lutkins' neighbours were
anxious to meet him. They, unlike everyone else in the village, did not know who
had been fooled by Lutkins.
4. After his first day’s experience with
the hack driver the lawyer thinks of returning to New Mullion to practise law.
Do you think he would have reconsidered this idea after his second visit?
Answer: The lawyer is a naive guy, and when he left
New Mullion, he only had positive thoughts about the place. He, quite interestingly, thought that Bill
was a generous guy who really wanted to help.
5. Do you think the lawyer was gullible?
How could he have avoided being taken for a ride?
Answer:
I think the lawyer was gullible, naive and foolhardy. Firstly, he could have
cross-checked whether Bill was actually the person he was claiming to be by
requesting an ID proof. Also, instead of allowing Bill to meet the people and
take his words at face value, he himself could have tried striking a
conversation with the villagers. He shouldn't have relied on just one person.
TALK ABOUT IT PAGE
53
1. Do we come across persons like Lutkins
only in fiction or do we encounter them in real life as well? You can give
examples from fiction, or narrate an incident that you have read in the
newspaper, or an incident from real life.
Answer: In progress.
2. Who is a ‘con man’, or a confidence
trickster?
Answer: In progress.
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