THE HACK DRIVER

SAQ (2marks each)(30-40 words)

1. Why do you think Bill offered to help the narrator to find Lukins?

Ans. Bill himself was Lukins. He got to know that the lawyer was searching for him. He
wanted to play a prank on him so offered to help him to find Lukins. Even he made
some money in this process and made him wander here and there. He and his mother
made a fool of the narrator and had great laughter.

2. 'But he was no more dishonest than I’. Elaborate the statement.

Ans. Bill already knew that the lawyer was searching for him, still being dishonest, he
made him wander here and there and charged him two dollars an hour for six hours,
including one hour of his lunchtime. The lawyer called himself as dishonest as the hack
driver because he too would charge a handsome amount from his firm to visit New
Mullion.

3. Why did the narrator worry very little about his failure and considered returning to
New Mullion to practise law?

Ans. The narrator worried very little about his failure to trace Oliver Lutkins. He was
busy thinking about Bill Magnuson. He considered returning to New Mullion to practise
law. After all, he could find such honest and human people like Bill only in New Mullion.
He would feel honoured to have soft-spoken and wise neighbours like Fritz and Gustaff
and a hundred others. He pictured an honest, happy and a new way of life there.

LAQ (8 marks) (100-150 words)

1. Give a character sketch of the narrator or the lawyer of the story, ‘The Hack Driver’.

Ans. The narrator was a junior assistant clerk in a big law firm. His work was to serve
the summons. The narrator was fed up with his job as he had to visit many dirty and
shadowy corners of the city. On several occasions, he was attacked and beaten up by
musclemen too. He was highly gullible. He didn’t behave like a seasoned legal mind. He
was so much impressed with Bill that he became totally dependent on him. He failed to
keep his mission a secret to himself. By disclosing that he had come to serve a
summons on Oliver Lutkins, he gave the crafty and clever Bill enough space and time to
confuse and misdirect his search. Bill, who was Oliver Lutkins himself, drove him
aimlessly without allowing the narrator to talk directly to the people. He never
questioned and doubted Bill and not even initiated to interrogate the villagers on his
own. Hehada yearning for country life and its people. After his first visit, he didn’t mind
his failure but planned to come to New Mullion again to start his legal practice there.
The narrator proved himself a novice and not a seasoned legal mind. When he served
summons, Lutkins and his mother laughed at him as if he were a seven-year-old boy.

2. Bill or Oliver Lutkins was a complete contrast to the narrator. How did a seasoned
crook like Lutkins outwit the gullible lawyer proving him a novice and just a bright boy of
seven?

Ans. Certainly, both the main characters of the story are totally different. Bill or Lutkins
plots under the garb of friendliness. The narrator is outwitted and deceived due to his
gullibility. Bill (Lutkins) knows how to confuse and misdirect the narrator’s search for
Oliver Lutkins. He befriends the lawyer convincing him that he is the only person in New
Mullion who can help him in finding out Oliver Lutkins. He overpowers the narrator’s
capacity for reasoning and thinking. The narrator becomes a soft target of cunning
Lutkins. He allows giving Lutkins all the space and time that he needed to plan out and
scheme things. The narrator became just a puppet in Bill’s hands. Actually, he danced
to his tunes. Bill’s pretensions clouded the narrator’s wisdom . Bill (Lutkins) was not a
crook and fraud but an honest man full of human values for him. The cunning Lutkins
had the last laugh. When the narrator served summons, Lutkins and his mother laughed
as if he were a seven-year-old boy.