Professional Documents
Culture Documents
CH 3
CH 3
EXTRACT I
As they passed down the aisle of the coach…….owner was
accustomed to speak and be heard.
Ans: The coach of the eastbound train, B & M Express. The only vacant
seat left was a ‘reversed one facing the attractive young woman.’ This
tells us that the coach was crowded.
2. Name the young woman in the coach. What is said about her just
before the extract?
Ans: The young woman in the coach is Miss Fairchild. She is described
as an elegantly dressed, pretty young woman who had all the luxuries and
who loved travelling.
Ans: The linked couple were Mr. Easton and the Marshal because they
were handcuffed together.
4. Describe the reaction of the young woman on seeing the two men.
Ans: At first, she saw them indifferently with a ‘distant, swift disinterest.’
As soon as she recognized Mr. Easton, she smiled at them and started
conversing.
5. What is revealed from the extract about the young woman’s
nature? What was the relationship between Mr. Easton and the
young woman?
Ans: The young woman in the coach is named as Miss Fairchild. She is
dressed as elegantly looking young woman, who had all the luxuries and
who loved to travel.
Mr. Easton and Miss Fairchild seem to be good old friends who had some
good memories from past. There is some indication that they used to have
a soft corner for each other. They were old acquaintances.
EXTRACT II
“It’s Miss Fairchild,” he said, with a smile……glances from his keen,
shrewd eyes.
1. Who said, “It’s Miss Fairchild”? Which hand of his was engaged?
How?
Ans: Mr. Easton. His right hand was engaged as it was handcuffed to the
left hand of the marshal.
3. What did the glum-faced man say about the marshal? As per the
context here where was the glum-faced man being taken? Why?
Ans: The glum-faced man spoke as if Mr. Easton was the marshal. The
glum-faced man was a convict being taken to Leavenworth prison for
counterfeiting.
4. With reference to question (iii) above explain what happened in
reality.
Ans: In reality, the glum-faced man was the marshal who was taking the
convict Mr. Easton to the prison. The marshal, to save Mr. Easton from
embarrassment in front of Miss Fairchild, presented himself as the
convict.
Ans: The story begins with two people, Mr. Easton and the glum-faced
man hand-cuffed together. It is the handcuffing that lends to the ‘Hands’
part of the title. In fact, it is the hands which are significant for revealing
the true identities of the two men. Miss Fairchild was misled by the
unnamed man about the identity of Mr. Easton as he wanted to save Mr.
Easton from an embarrassing situation by revealing that he was a convict
and was being taken by him to the prison. It was an astute passenger in
the coach, who discovered that a marshal would not handcuff his own
right hand with that of a convict, as was the case with Mr. Easton and the
marshal.
The eavesdroppers' brief conversation reveals the story's twist: that Mr.
Easton is not the marshal, but rather a prisoner handcuffed to the marshal
on his way to Leavenworth prison. We need the eavesdroppers to reveal
this information because Miss Fairchild's completely in the dark.
EXTRACT III
“Oh!” said the girl, with a deep breath and returning colour….quite
as high a position as that of ambassador, but…..
Ans: She was not likely to see Easton in Washington soon, because he
was to be confined in Leavenworth prison. Miss Fairchild, assumed that
he would be extremely busy in his new job as the marshal.
EXTRACT IV
The girl’s eyes, fascinated, went back……my butterfly days are over.
1. Why were the girl’s eyes fascinated? Who were handcuffed? Why?
Ans: The girl was fascinated with the handcuffs. Easton was handcuffed
to the marshal, because he was being taken to the Leavenworth prison for
counterfeiting.
2. Why did the glum-faced man say, “Mr. Easton knows his business
?”
Ans: Miss Fairchild was glaring at the handcuffs. The glum-faced man
asked her not to worry as it was Mr. Easton’s business as a marshal to
handcuff the convict to keep from getting away.
3. What kind of relationship existed between Mr. Easton and Miss
Fairchild?
Ans: The word ‘Hearts’ in the title is indicative as relationship something
more than friendship between Miss Fairchild and Mr. Easton. When she
saw Mr. Easton, there appeared a lovely smile on her face and her cheeks
turned pink. She even told him that she loved the West, suggesting that
she would settle down with him in the West.
Ans: The mistaken identity gives the story a dramatic irony as we the
readers judged Mr. Easton, and the real marshal by their outer appearance
Explanation:
1. In the beginning Mr. Easton felt a bit embarrassing in front of his old
friend but by sensing this the marshal hid his own identity and basically
swap their identities which shows compassion of the marshal as he was a
golden hearted person
2. The last plot can be formed as when the other passengers who heard the
conversation indirectly reveal that Mr. Easton is not the marshal rather the
glum faced man is the marshal surprises the readers
EXTRACT V
The two men sidled down the aisle……..a prisoner to his right hand?
Ans: The glum-faced man said he was in need of a drink and a smoke. He
asked Mr. Easton to accompany him to the smoker car as he was ‘half
dead for a pipe.’
He takes him into smoker room to save him from this conversation. He
smiles because the lady has not came to know that he was culprit and not
the marshal.
3. Do you like the way the story ends? Give reason to justify your
opinion.
Ans: There is always a twist in O. Henry's stories at the end which I like
the most. This is a similar case. But it is really sad as the marshal tried so
much to hide their identities in front of others but at last their identities
get revealed.
It is very interesting story as in this story being a Marshal he helped a
person (who was a counterfeiter) in front of his childhood friend .He tried
that Easton’s image in front of his childhood friend should not destroy
that is why he told himself as a prisoner but I don't like its ending way as
in the end the efforts of Marshal become fail and truth reveled in front of
Miss Fairchild.
Ans: It is the ‘hearts’ part of the title that explains the theme. It is because
of having a compassionate heart that the marshal told a lie to Miss
Fairchild. He did this to save Mr. Easton from the humiliation of being
identified as a convict in front of an old friend. He told Miss Fairchild that
Mr. Easton was the marshal and he was the convict, who was being taken
to the prison by Mr. Easton. The glum-faced man had golden heart. The
effect of the lie was immediate in the response of Miss Fairchild. She
showed relief that Mr. Easton was not convicted. She was shocked and
horrified before the marshal told the lie to her.
The eavesdroppers' brief conversation reveals the story's twist: that Mr.
Easton is not the marshal, but rather a prisoner handcuffed to the marshal
on his way to Leavenworth prison. We need the eavesdroppers to reveal
this information because Miss Fairchild's completely in the dark.
STRUCTURED QUESTIONS
Ans: In O. Henry’s story “Hearts and Hands”, the marshal’s lie to save
Mr. Easton from embarrassment reveals his human nature and sympathy
for others, even for a criminal. Moreover, it is all about his common sense
and the presence of mind.
Miss Fairchild was deceived by the duo of the marshal and Mr. Easton
into believing that Mr. Easton was the actual marshal. Only one passenger
could get hold of the catch. In the very last sentence of the story he
commented that. It was the common sense and his presence of mind which
let him know the actual truth while others including the readers were
befooled.
The Marshal, in the story- Hearts and Hands, has played a role of concern
towards the friendship of Miss Fairchild and Mr. Easton. The entire story
is built up on the basis of this concern itself.
Ans: In the story Hearts and Hands by O. Henry, among the passengers
in a train were a pair of men linked by a handcuff. One of them was
apparently the Marshal and the other a criminal. A lady passenger
apparently knows one of them called Easton. She strikes a conversation
with him. Like almost all the other passengers, she thinks he is a Marshal.
The statements made by the other linked man also give no way to doubt
this statement. What they failed to realize was that the person whom they
thought was the Marshal had linked his right hand to the other’s left hand.
This is very rarely the case when a Marshal links his prisoner to himself.
Since the passengers were not interested in the details given by the two
men, they did not notice the way the handcuff linked the two men.