The Tragedy of Pudd'nhead Wilson

Chapters 1-3

Reading Check

1. Dawson's Landing, Missouri (Chapter 1)

2. Fingerprinting and palmistry (Chapter 2)

Short Answer

1. He makes a humorous remark about wanting to own half of a dog, and his sarcasm flies over the heads of the townsfolk to whom he is speaking. They decide that only a very stupid person—a “pudd’nhead”—would want to own half a dog. (Chapter 1)

2. He threatens to sell them “down the river,” meaning into the worse conditions enslaved people face in the plantation states. (Chapter 2)

3. Roxy’s initial plan is to drown both herself and Chambers in the river so that neither will have to live the rest of their lives under the threat of being sold down the river. (Chapter 3)

Chapters 4-6

Reading Check

1. Judge Driscoll (Chapter 4)

2. Patsy Cooper/Patsy and Rowena Cooper (Chapter 5)

Short Answer

1. Roxy’s indulgence of Tom causes him to grow up spoiled and self-involved. Her love for him is not reciprocated, as he does not know that she is his biological mother and instead views her as his father’s property. (

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