“The Hack Driver” is a short story written by Sinclair Lewis, an American novelist, playwright, and short-story writer. Lewis was the first writer from the United States to receive a Nobel Prize in Literature and was well known for his witty and humorous characters. The story is about a young lawyer who is sent to serve summons to a man in New Mullion and how he is easily fooled by this man due to his gullible and trusting nature.

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➢ Ask your elders/friends whether anyone has duped/cheated them in their
life or at any time they had the realization that someone is entirely
different from his/her appearance?
About the Author (For Notebook Notes)
Harry Sinclair Lewis was born on Feb. 7, 1885, in Sauk Centre, Minn. As a boy he
read everything obtainable. He graduated from Yale University in 1907 and was for
a time a reporter and worked as an editor for several publishers. His first novel, Our
Mr. Wrenn (1914), was treated favorably by the critics but had few readers. At the
same time, he was writing with increasing success for such popular magazines
as The Saturday Evening Post and Cosmopolitan. However, he never lost sight of
his ambition to become a serious novelist.
After 1930 his reputation declined considerably; critics said his work was shallow
and overly sentimental. Lewis died near Rome, Italy, on Jan.10, 1951.
In 1930 Lewis won the Nobel Prize in Literature, the first writer from the United
States to receive the award.

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(Read More about his Nobel Prize Speech:
https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/literature/1930/lewis/biographical/ )
About the Story (For Notebook Notes)
“The Hack Driver” is a short story written by Sinclair Lewis, an American novelist,
playwright, and short-story writer. Lewis was the first writer from the United States
to receive a Nobel Prize in Literature and was well known for his witty and
humorous characters. The story is about a young lawyer who is sent to serve
summons to a man in New Mullion and how he is easily fooled by this man due to
his gullible and trusting nature.
Summary:
The narrator of the story, a young lawyer, explains that after completing his
graduation he started working with a famous law firm in the city. He was working
as an assistant clerk there. He was not very happy with his job of serving summons
because sometimes he had to face harsh situations while serving them. One day,
he got the task of serving summons to Oliver Lutkins who was a key witness in some
case. He lived in a small town named New Mullion.
The narrator was very excited to visit a small and beautiful town, but his excitement
ended by the dull appearance of the town. He saw a hack driver standing at the
platform who was very cheerful and nice. He went up to him and enquired about
Oliver Lutkins as he was new to the town and wanted to find him. The driver told
him that Oliver was a nasty man who owed a debt to many people. He also
cunningly extracted information from the lawyer that he needed Lutkins for some
court case.
A deal was cracked between both- he decided to hire Bill’s hack and go on a search
for Lutkins. Bill somehow traps the lawyer in his story, and they visit different places
in search of Lutkins. He always asks the lawyer to stay behind. They go to Fritz’s to
catch Lutkins while playing poker. But he tells them that he has gone to Gustaff for
a shave. At Gustaff’s they couldn’t meet him and were told that someone saw him
at the pool room. Here also somebody said that he left the poolroom after buying
cigarettes.
Bill described Lutkins as a cunning man and guessed that he must have gone to
Gray’s for a shave. In the afternoon, Bill offered him to buy lunch from his wife as
it would be less costly than at the restaurant. They had lunch at wade’s hill which
was a very beautiful place. By that time the clerk was totally impressed by Bill’s nice

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and cheery nature. He had even started comparing village people to city people.
Later, they went to search for Lutkins at his mother’s house based on information
derived from one of his friends.
There the lady was horrible, and they hurriedly left the place as she was about to
attack them with a hot iron rod. At last, the lawyer had to leave without serving
summons to Lutkins. Next day he was scolded badly by his chief and was again sent
to New Mullion with a companion who knew Lutkins. Upon reaching the station,
the clerk happily pointed out that Bill was such a helpful person to him search
Lutkins.
At this time, the truth was revealed by his companion that the hack driver was none
other than Lutkins himself. The clerk felt so bad and was ashamed of how he had
been fooled by a villager.
The Hack Driver | Analysis (For Notebook Notes)
This short story revolves around two central characters- Oliver Lukins, aka Bill, who
is the titular character as well, and the narrator, a young and gullible lawyer. The
story chronicles the events that transpired when the narrator was sent to serve
summons to Lutkins who was a witness for a case in the court. Lutkins, being a
cunning and manipulative man, manages to easily fool the naive lawyer and takes
him around the whole town on his hack, and offers him assistance in his search for
‘Lutkins’, which was none other than he himself. The over-trusting narrator easily
falls into his trap and fails in his task for which he must face the wrath of his
superiors at the office. When at the end it is revealed to him that Lutkins was none
other than the hack driver he had roamed around with the entire day, believing
him to be kind and helpful, the narrator is deeply hurt.
The main theme that the story centres around is that of appearance v/s reality.
People may appear to be very friendly and considerate on the surface but can turn
out to be extremely shrewd and selfish in reality. Therefore, one should always
exercise caution before trusting anybody and should not believe everyone as easily
as the narrator did. Exercising due diligence can help us save ourselves from being
fooled and taken advantage of.
Another remarkable aspect of the story is that the author sets the tone for the
entire narrative right in the beginning by expressing the narrator’s opinion on the
simplicity of the rustic life in villages, far from the pretentious city life, as well as his
inclination towards the former.

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This is important because it gives us the reason behind his easy acceptance and
faith in the hackman and the other people of New Mullion as well as his desire to
settle in that village. Thus, right from the start, we have an inkling of his
temperament and can therefore believe how he was so easily deceived by Lutkins.
His bias for villages was probably one of the major reasons behind him getting
duped.
QUESTION ANSWERS (Not for Notebook)
Question 1. Why is the lawyer sent to New Mullion? What does he first think about the place?
Answer:
The lawyer was sent to New Mullion to serve the summons on Oliver Lutkins, who was needed
as a witness in a law case. He first thinks that the place must be a sweet and simple country
village.
Question 2. Who befriends lawyer? Where does he take him?
Answer:
A hack driver at the station, who called himself Bill Magnuson, befriends him. He told the lawyer
that he knew Lutkins and would help in finding him. Bill took him to all the places where Lutkins
was known to hang out. He took the lawyer to Fritz’s shop, where Lutkins played a lot of poker;
to Gustaff’s barbershop and then to Gray’s barbershop; to the poolroom and several other places
before finally taking him to Lutkins’ mother’s farm. However, Oliver Lutkins was not found.
Question3. What does Bill say about Lutkins?
Answer:
Bill told the lawyer that Lutkins was a hard person to find as he was always busy in some activity
or the other. He owed money to many people, including Bill, and had never paid back anybody.
He also said that Lutkins played a lot of poker and was good at deceiving people.
Question4: What more does Bill say about Lutkins and his family?
Answer:
Bill told the lawyer that he knew the mother of Lutkins. He said that she was a terror. He narrated
an incident when he took a trunk to her once and she almost took his skin off because he did not
carry it carefully. He also said that she was very tall and bulky. She was very quick and could talk
a lot. He said that Lutkins must have heard that somebody was chasing him and consequently
would have gone into hiding at his mother’s place.
Question5:. Does the narrator serve the summons that day?
Answer:
No, the narrator did not serve the summons that day.
Question3.Who is Lutkins?
Answer:
The hack driver himself is Lutkins but pretends to be Bill Magnuson. He tricks the lawyer to avoid
the summons to be a witness in a case.

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TEXTUAL QUESTIONS -(Notebook Notes)
Q1-When the lawyer reached New Mullion, did ‘Bill’ know that he was looking
for Lutkins? When do you think Bill came up with his plan for fooling the
lawyer?
A1- When the lawyer reached New Mullion, ‘Bill’ did not know that he was
looking for Lutkins. He found it by talking to the lawyer and taking him into his
confidence. Bill came up with his plan for fooling the lawyer as soon as he got to
know that the lawyer was looking out for Lutkins and he did not know Lutkins by
face.
Q2-Lutkins openly takes the lawyer all over the village. How is it that no one lets
out the secret? (Hint: Notice that the hack driver asks the lawyer to keep out of
sight behind him when they go into Fritz’s.) Can you find other such subtle ways
in which Lutkins manipulates the tour?
A2- Lutkins openly takes the lawyer all over the village, but no one lets out the
secret. He never lets the lawyer talk to the village people at first. It is always him
who approaches them. He keeps telling the lawyer how deceiving Lutkins is and
scares him of Lutkins’ mother. The villagers and Lutkins’ mother also join him in
deceiving the lawyer.
Q3- Why do you think Lutkins’ neighbours were anxious to meet the lawyer?
A3-Lutkins took the lawyer across the town in search of Lutkins himself. He was
able to fool a lawyer with his cooked-up stories about Lutkins and other
villagers. All this must have become the talk of the town as to how a man could
fool the other man in his own search. Everyone had seen this happening. So,
Lutkins’ neighbours were keen to see him as they were the only ones who had
missed seeing him that day.
Q4-After his first day’s experience with the hack driver, the lawyer thinks of
returning to New Mullion to practice law. Do you think he would have
reconsidered this idea after his second visit?
A4- Yes, he may have reconsidered his idea of practicing law at New Mullions. He
had taken this decision because he was impressed by the noble and friendly
nature of Bill. He found that the villagers were nice, innocent, and kind. They
were far better than the city people who were not so simple and humble. But on

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the second visit when he realized that Lutkins had fooled him, he would rethink
his idea and would decide not to settle in New Mullion.
Q5- Do you think the lawyer was gullible? How could he have avoided being
taken for a ride?
A5- Yes, the lawyer was very gullible as he was taken in by whatever he was told
by the hack driver. He never thought of cross-checking it. The lawyer could have
checked everything himself by going to the people himself, but he let Bill do this.
He was so impressed by Bill’s friendliness and cheerfulness that he never cross-
checked with what he was told by Bill and made it easy for the hack driver to fool
him.
Exam Preparation
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VERY SHORT ANSWER QUESTIONS
i. What is the qualification of the young lawyer?
ii. Why did the law firm want Lutkins?
iii. Why was the lawyer disappointed when he reached New Mullion?
iv. What was the pleasant sight at the railway platform?
v. What did Bill say about Oliver Lutkins? How much did the lawyer pay to the hack driver for his service?
vi. Where did they first go in search of Lutkins?
vii. What was Lutkins favourite pastime?
viii. What is Gustaff?
ix. What could they see from the hilltop? Where did they go finally to search for Lutkins?
x. How did Lutkins mother react when Bill told her that the lawyer has the legal right to search all
properties?
xi. Who accompanied the lawyer on his second visit?
xii. Why did Lutkins invite him for a cup of coffee at a neighbour’s house?
SHORT ANSWER QUESTIONS
i. Why did the narrator call his work unpleasant?
ii. Describe the hack driver’s appearance in your own words.
iii. Why does the hack driver offer to ask about Oliver Lutkins? iv. ‘But he was no more dishonest than I’.
Explain. v. The narrator was happy though he had not found Lutkins. Why?
vi. What impressed the narrator most about Bill? Mention any two things…

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vii. How did the chief react when the narrator returned to his town?
viii. How does the narrator find Lutkins eventually? ix. Why did Lutkins pretend to be Bill Magnuson? x.
What did the hack driver tell the narrator about Lutkins’ mother? xi. How did the hack driver befool the
lawyer?
LONG ANSWER QUESTIONS
i. The narrator strikes us as a romantic idealist, Do you agree? Support your answer from the text.
ii. Describe ‘Bill’ as seen through the eyes of the narrator.
iii. ‘Appearances are often deceptive’. Comment on the statement in the light of your reading of the
story.
iv. Do you think Lutkins was right in befooling the lawyer and earning money by using unfair means?
What precautions should one take to avoid a situation like the one in which the lawyer was placed?
v. In life people who trust others are sometimes made to look foolish. One should not be too trusting.
Describe how Oliver Lutkins made a fool of the young lawyer.
vi. What really hurt the feelings of the narrator in the story, The Hack Driver?
COMPETENCY LEVEL QUESTIONS
i. Attempt the character sketch of the hack driver.
ii. Give the character sketch of the narrator –the young lawyer of the story narrator.
iii. Why was he sent to New Mullion? Why didn’t he succeed in his mission on his first visit?
iv. How did the hack driver outwit the educated lawyer? what impressions do you form of the narrator
after both of them visit to New Mullion?
v. Describe the narrator’s encounter with Oliver Lutkins’ mother. Was it pre-planned or fake drama?
Give your reasons.
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(Notes reference – Web)