eQuizShow
The Laughing Man
Characters
Question: Who is Mary Hudson?
Answer: We suspect she is the girlfriend of the chief, who joins the boys in sports
Question: Who is described as having "a stocky five three or four, blue-black hair, an extremely low hair line, a fleshy large nose and a torso that was about as long as his legs were".
Answer: The Chief
Question: Who does The Laughing Man kill at the end of the story
Answer: Marcel Dufarge and his daughter
Question: Where did Mary Hudson go to college?
Answer: Wellesley College
Question: What is the Chief's real name?
Answer: John Gedsudski
The Laughing Man
Question: What happened to The Laughing Man and how did he get his name?
Answer: He was kidnapped by Chinese bandits from his wealthy missionary parents, who put his head in a carpenter's vise and gave the appropriate lever several turns to the right. The noise he made resembled an awful laugh, making him the laughing man
Question: Who is The Laughing Man's best friend and what is he?
Answer: Black Wing, the timber wolf
Question: Who did the bandits accidently kill instead of The Laughing Man?
Answer: The bandit chief's mother
Question: Which one(s) have seen The Laughing Man's face?
the lovable dwarf, the giant Mongolian, or the gorgeous Eurasian girl, or none of them?
Answer: None of them
Question: What is the name of the lovable dwarf?
Answer: Omba
Places
Question: What city does the real story take place?
Answer: New York City
Question: What is the boy's favorite park to go to?
Answer: Central Park
Question: The Laughing Man crosses the Chinese border into what city?
Answer: Paris, France
Question: Where do the boys go when it rains?
Answer: The Museum of Natural History or The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Question: Where does Mary Hudson live?
Answer: Douglaston, Long Island
Random
Question: What is the name of the club the boys are apart of? How many boys are in the club?
Answer: The Comanche Club; 25
Question: What were the seats on the bus made of?
Answer: Straw
Question: What team is the narrator the captain of?
Answer: The Warriors
Question: What number batter was Mary Hudson on the team?
Answer: Ninth
Question: Who is the youngest of the boys in the club?
Answer: Billy Walsh
Symbolism/Themes
Question: How is there a loss of innocence in the story?
Answer: The death of The Laughing Man reminds the boys that eventually they will grow up and will not live their life playing sports as young boys forever. This is also maybe their first encounter with death.
Question: What type of story is this? (Not narration style)
Answer: A story within a story
Question: Why is it weird that The Laughing Man is referred to as a hero?
Answer: He is a thief, robber, highjacker, and murderous criminal
Question: What does Mary Hudson represent?
Answer: Mary Hudson represents the idea of love and relationships, both of which are things that the reader, as well as Salinger’s “readers,” has trouble comprehending. For the reader, Mary Hudson is exactly the kind of character who would bring up psychological defenses. The reader, upon encountering Mary Hudson, would immediately recall memories of past relationships, both good and bad. In this case, however, she is responded to as a threat to the sanctity of the Comanche Club, which is supposed to be strictly boys-only.
Question: What is the significance of this quote?"I stepped out of the chief's bus, the first thing I chanced to see was a piece of red tissue paper flapping in the wind against the base of the lamppost. It looked like someone's poppy petal mask."
Answer: The Laughing Man's mask is described as a pale-red gossamer mask made out of poppy petals