Red HarvestName

Study Guide Questions and Vocabulary

Chapter One

  1. What is Personville better known as?

2. What is the narrator’s name?

3. With whom did the narrator have an appointment?

4. What is the narrator’s view of the city’s police?

5. What happened to Donald Willson?

6. Who is Bill Quint?

7. Who is ElihuWillson?

8. Name the five people who run Personville.

9. What is rotten in the state of Personville?

10. How is Max Thaler (a.k.a. Whisper) described?

11. What is your impression of the narrator?

Vocabulary: Know the definition (look up the terms)

Gaudiness

Mucker

Smelters

Rumpus

“Punch and Judy”

Muckademuck

Define these two terms (some research might be required):

  • Industrial Workers of the World (I.W.W.)
  • Wobblies.

Chapter Two

  1. Where did Donald Willson work?
  1. How is Donald Willson described? What kind of a person was he?
  1. Who is the “czar of Poisonville”?
  1. How does the meeting between the narrator and ElihuWillson go?
  1. What does the narrator do for work? (What is his job?)
  1. How does the narrator describe himself?
  1. What is your take on the narrator? Do you like him?
  1. Who is Donald Willson’s secretary, and what connection does she have to ElihuWillson?
  1. What information does Donald Willson’s secretary give the Continental Operative (the Continental Op)?

Vocabulary

Complicity

Emphatic

Domineering

Unscrupulous

Chapter Three

  1. Who is Robert Albury? Where does he work? What relationship does he have with Dinah Brand?
  1. Describe Noonan. What is his job? What is your impression of how he performs his job?
  1. Describe Dinah Brand.
  1. How did Noonan and the Op treat Mrs. Willson? Why?
  1. Who does Mrs. Willson believe killed her husband?
  1. What did Albury tell the Op?
  2. Who is Dan Rolff? What is a lunger? What is t.b.?

8. Who do you think killed Donald Willson?

Vocabulary

Haughtily

Gum-shoe

Chapter Four

  1. Why is the Op visiting Dinah Brand?
  1. Describe Dinah Brand’s house.
  1. We meet Dinah Brand, “who took her pick of Poisonville’s men,” for the first time. Describe her.
  1. The Op repeatedly asks Dinah about the certified check for $5,000 that she made Donald Willson give her. Why is the Op so interested in this check? What does it mean?
  1. Who does the Op say that Noonan will charge with Donald Willson’s murder?
  1. What kind of a relationship does the Op think that Bill Quint and Dinah Brand had? What does Dinah tell him?
  1. For what reason did Donald Willson give Dinah Brand the $5,000 certified check?
  1. Why did the check have to be certified?
  1. If Dinah Brand was planning to tell Donald Willson all of the low-down, inside information of the corruption of Poisonville (which would implicate Whisper, Pete the Finn, Lew Yard, Noonan, and ElihuWillson), what do you think their reaction would be?
  1. Who does the Op think that Noonan will charge will murder? (The Op tells Dinah right before he leaves her house.)

Chapter Five

  1. Why does Elihu demand that the Op visit his house as soon as possible? What had Elihu done?

2. On page 42-43, Elihu says to the Op, “I want a man to clean this pig-sty of a Poisonville for me, to smoke out the rats, little and big. It’s a man’s job. Are you a man?...I want Personville emptied of its crooks and grafters. Is that plain enough language for you?” What is the Op’s response?

3. When the Op decides to take Elihu up on the offer, what are his (the Op’s) conditions?

4. Why does the Op demand that he be given a $10,000 retainer?

4. Who is (or more accurately, was) Yakima Shorty?

5. Chief Noonan says, “If everybody did that [shoot] their prowlers, it would certainly be fine.” (p. 46) What can you infer about the police chief?

6. Where are Noonan and the Op going at the end of the chapter?

Vocabulary

impudence

amiably

Chapter Six

  1. How does Whisper know that the police are coming to arrest him? What can you infer from that information?

2. Who does Noonan ask to go talk to Whisper (after the chief asks Nick)?

3. What happens when the Op goes to talk with Whisper? What can you infer about this turn of events?

4. What is the tone of the conversation between Whisper and the Op? What kind of a conversation do they have?

5. How does the Op and Whisper and his gang escape from the police?

6. The chapter ends with the Op being dropped off by his hotel, and he sees the getaway car drive away. “The last I saw of it was its police department license plate vanishing around the corner.” What can you infer about this statement?

Chapter Seven

1. Up until this point, we (the readers) are unsure of who killed Donald Willson. The suspects include ElihuWillson (his father), Mrs. Willson (his wife), Dinah Brand, and Max Thaler (a.k.a. Whisper), in addition to any of the other criminal elements in the city of Poisonville. Who turns out to be the killer?

2. What was the motive for the murder?

3. What is the subject of the conversation between Elihu and the Op at the end of the chapter?

4. “I’ll give you nothing except a good job of city-cleaning…Your fat chief of police tried to assassinate me last night. I don’t like that. I’m just mean enough to want to ruin him for it. Now I’m going to have my fun. I’ve got ten thousand dollars of your money to play with. I’m going to use it opening Poisonville up from Adam’s apple to ankles.”

Explain the meaning of this passage, and how it reveals the nature of the Op’s character.

Chapter Eight: A Tip on Kid Cooper

1. What happens to the Op when he enters his hotel room?

2. What does he use to get rid of the light? Why/how is this ironic?

3. Who does the Op suspect of the attack?

4. The Op meets with Dinah and Whisper. What advice does Whisper give to the Op? Do you think the Op should follow Whisper’s advice?

5. “Poisonville is ripe for the harvest.” What does the Op mean by this?

6. What gambling tip does Whisper give the Op?

7. Find two examples of how the Op is “hardboiled” in this chapter.

Chapter Nine: A Black Knife

1. What does the Op do with Whisper’s gambling tip? Why do you think he does this?

2. Who is MacSwain? How does the Op describe him?

3. Who is Ike Bush? Who is Al Kennedy?

4. What is Ike Bush supposed to do at the boxing match? How does the Op try to prevent that?

5. “Smoke. Stink. Heat. Noise.” Explain how this is an effective way of describing the atmosphere at the fight.

6. Who wins the fight?

7. What happens to the winner?

Chapter Ten: Crime Wanted – Male or Female

1. Why is Whisper angry at Dinah?

2. What is Dan Rolff under the influence of?

3. Dinah offers information to the Op about the corruption in Poisonville for payment. How does Dan Rolff react to this?

4. What does Dinah do to Dan when he insults her? As a result, what does Dan do to the Op? Finally, what does the Op to Dan in order for Dan to save face in front of Dinah?

5. “Crime Wanted—Male or Female”: what is the Op’s plan for Poisonville and its corrupt leaders?

Chapter Eleven: The Swell Spoon

1. What dirt does Dinah have on Max regarding Chief Noonan’s brother, Tim?

2. Who did Tim Noonan say killed him with his dying words?

3. Who does the Op go to see in the hospital? Why?

Chapter Twelve: A New Deal

1. Who does the Op meet in the lobby of his hotel?

2. Explain how Dashiell Hammett effectively describes the tussle between the Op and MacSwain.

3. Where is the Op going to take MacSwain? Why?

4. How does Chief Noonan react to the news that the Op brings? How does her react to MacSwain?

5. Who is Peak Murry? What does he inform Noonan about?

6. Provide a quote which exemplifies the hardboiled nature of the Op.

Chapter Thirteen: -$200.10-

1. Why does Dinah summon the Op to her place?

2. What transpires at Dinah’s house?

3. Which character(s) are in control of the situation at the end of the chapter? Who does the Op call and apprise of the situation?

Chapter Fourteen: Max

1. Why can’t Noonan rough up Max while he is in police custody?

2. Describe the jailbreak.

3. Who does the Op capture fleeing from the cops?

4. Who actually killed Tim Noonan?

5. Does the Op tell Chief Noonan of this new information?

6. “Poisonville was beginning to boil out under the lid, and I felt so much like a native that even the memory of my very un-nice part in the boiling didn’t keep me from getting twelve solid end-to-end hours of sleep.” (p. 115)

Explain how this quote demonstrates the Op’s character.

Chapter Fifteen: Cedar Hill Inn

1. Describe Mickey Linehan and Dick Foley. Who are they?

2. The Op tells Linehan and Foley that “anybody that brings any ethics to Poisonville is going to get them all rusty.” Do you think the Op is saying that to justify what he has done so far? Or do you think that the Op truly believes that harsh, morally questionable methods are the only way to go about cleaning up a place like Poisonville?

3. Why can’t the Op just buy more information from Dinah Brand? Why would this be an ineffective way of cleaning up Poisonville?

4. Where does Noonan think that Whisper is hiding out?

5. What happens at the Cedar Hill Inn?

6. Where is Whisper? What has he done?

Chapter Sixteen: Exit Jerry

1. What happens to Jerry Hooper (one of Whisper’s henchmen) at the First National Bank?

2. Where was Dinah during the bank robbery?

(Chapter Sixteen continued)

3. Dinah explains her childhood and how she was raised. How is this comically ironic?

4. Dinah offers to sell information to the Op, but he refuses. What kind of information is he looking for?

5. Mickey Linehan and Dick Foley are tailing Pete the Finn and Lew Yard, respectively. Where are they (Pete and Lew) hanging out? (Who is the Op’s client?)

Chapter Seventeen: Reno

1. Who has been hanging out at ElihuWillson’s house?

2. What surprising piece of information does the Op tell Dinah? Did you expect this?

3. Why is Dinah afraid?

4. After they eat, Dinah and the Op head out. Where do they go?

5. Who is Reno Starkey?

6. What happens before they reach the Silver Arrow?

7. Describe their getaway. How does Dinah drive?

8. Where do they hide out?

9. Where does Reno go? What do the Op and Dinah do?

Chapter Eighteen: Painter Street

1. After the Op and Dinah return to town, where does the Op go?

2. Who is Dick Foley shadowing? Who is Mickey Linehan shadowing?

3. Where is Whisper hiding?

4. What did the telegram from the Old Man (the Op’s boss) tell the Op to do?

5. Why is Noonan depressed?

6. What happens to Lew Yard?

7. What does the Op suggest to Noonan in order to try to improve the situation in Poisonville?

Do you think the Op really wants to help Noonan? Why or why not?

Chapter Nineteen: The Peace Conference

1. List the characters present at the peace conference held at ElihuWillson’s house.

2. Describe Pete the Finn.

3. What argument did Elihu try to make about the escalating situation in Poisonville?

4. How did the Op sell out Chief Noonan?

5. According to the Op, why did Noonan try to frame Whisper for the bank robbery? What part did Reno play in the bank robbery?

6. Who has taken the place of Lew Yard in the crime syndicate?

7. Why was Jerry involved in the bank robbery? (p. 150)

8. What threat does Pete the Finn tell the others?

9. What job does Elihu offer the Op?

10. What do you think the outcome of the peace conference will be?

Chapter Twenty: Laudanum

1. What does the Op think will be the result of the peace conference?

2. What does Reno Starkey tell the Op about Noonan? Is the Op surprised?

3. What is the Op afraid of that Poisonville is doing to him?

4. How many people have been killed since the Op arrived in town?

5. How is the killing affecting the Op?

6. What substance does the Op take at the end of the chapter?

Chapter Twenty-one: The Seventeenth Murder

1. The Op has two laudanum-induced dreams. Describe both dreams. What do you think the dreams signify?

2. Who is the victim of the seventeenth murder?

3. What suspects does the Op tell Dick Foley to investigate?

4. From whom does the Op get an alibi from? What is the alibi?

5. Why does he have to ask this particular person for an alibi?

6. Who is the acting police chief?

Chapter Twenty-two: The Ice Pick

1. What crime does McGraw suspect the Op of committing?

2. What tool was used in the murder of Dinah Brand? Was this murder weapon found at the crime scene? What can you infer about the events at the crime scene after the Op left Dinah’s house?

3. After talking with the Op, who does McGraw suspect of killing Dinah Brand?

4. What does the Op tell Peak Murry to inform Reno Starkey about the new additions to the police force?

5. Where is Dan Rolf?

6. Who is Charles Proctor Dawn, and what does he want from the Op?

7. What does Ted Wright offer the Op?

8. What has happened to Whisper and Dan Rolf?

9. Describe the meeting between the Op and Charles Proctor Dawn. Why do you think the Op is in trouble?

10. Do you think the Op murdered Dinah?

Chapter Twenty-three: Mr. Charles Proctor Dawn

1. What information does Dick Foley have on Bill Quint?

2. What response did Reno Starkey have to Pete the Finn’s additions to the police force? (Remember that Pete the Finn runs the bootlegging in Poisonville.)

3. What crime(s) does Dick Foley suspect the Op of committing?

4. What has happened to Mr. Charles Proctor Dawn? Considering that he had threatened to blackmail the Op, who would be the obvious suspect in Dawn’s murder?

5. What information does the Op find in Dawn’s black book? What connection does Helen Albury have to the crime spree? Whose love letters did he find?

6. What information did the Op get from Helen Albury?

7. Summarize the events close this chapter (pp. 185-187).