🚖 Class 10 English Chapter 8 – The Hack Driver (Summary, Q&A, PDF)
Book: Footprints Without Feet
Chapter: 8 – The Hack Driver
Author: Sinclair Lewis
Board: CBSE Class 10 (2025)
✍️ Introduction
“The Hack Driver” by Sinclair Lewis is a humorous and ironic story that follows a young lawyer who is tricked by a clever villager. The story uses wit and deception to show how people can be easily fooled if they are too trusting or inexperienced.
📖 Summary of the Chapter
The narrator is a young junior assistant clerk who is tired of city life and wants to experience real-life legal work. One day, he is sent to a village called New Mullion to serve a summons to a man named Oliver Lutkins, who is wanted as a witness in a legal case.
Upon reaching New Mullion, the narrator meets a friendly and helpful hack driver named Bill. Bill offers to help him search for Lutkins all over the town. Together, they visit several places—the barber shop, the poolroom, Lutkins' mother's house, and many others—but they fail to find Lutkins anywhere.
The narrator is impressed by Bill’s down-to-earth nature and knowledge of the town. After returning without finding Lutkins, the narrator is scolded by his office. The next day, he returns with another employee who knows what Lutkins looks like. To his shock, the same friendly hack driver who helped him earlier is actually Oliver Lutkins himself! The narrator realizes he was being tricked the whole time.
The story ends with humor and irony, showing how experience matters more than education, and appearances can be misleading.
🌟 Central Theme
The main theme of the story is deception and irony. It highlights how innocent and inexperienced people can be fooled by clever tricksters. The story also shows the contrast between city life and village simplicity—where appearances are not always true.
👤 Character Sketches
- The Narrator: A young, innocent lawyer who is new to the field. He is polite and trusting but also easily fooled due to his inexperience.
- Bill/Oliver Lutkins: A smart, humorous, and confident villager who tricks the narrator by pretending to help him, while hiding his true identity.
📚 Word Meanings
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Summons | A legal notice to appear in court |
| Hack | A horse-drawn or motor vehicle for hire |
| Innocent | Not experienced or wise in worldly matters |
| Deception | Act of tricking or misleading |
| Irony | A situation with a surprising or amusing outcome |
❓ Important Questions and Answers
- Q1. Who was the hack driver actually?
Ans: The hack driver was actually Oliver Lutkins, the man the narrator was sent to find. He tricked the narrator by pretending to help him. - Q2. Why did the narrator fail to recognize Lutkins?
Ans: Because he had never seen Lutkins before and trusted the hack driver, who cleverly acted friendly and helpful to mislead him. - Q3. What lesson does the narrator learn at the end?
Ans: He learns that trusting strangers without verifying facts can lead to embarrassment. He also understands the value of experience in the real world. - Q4. What makes the story humorous and ironic?
Ans: The fact that the narrator was fooled by the very man he was looking for, despite spending the whole day with him, adds both humor and irony to the story.
📥 Download PDF Notes
👉 Click here to download PDF of The Hack Driver Notes
📌 Tags: Class 10 English Chapter 8, The Hack Driver Summary, Oliver Lutkins Character Sketch, Sinclair Lewis, CBSE 2025 English Notes, ToppersNoteHub
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