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