Hi Everyone!! This article will share The Blue Carbuncle Questions & Answers.
The Blue Carbuncle by Arthur Conan Doyle is an intriguing and engaging short story where Sherlock Holmes solved the mystery of a goose with an unusual stuffing. Below are mentioned its questions & answers. I have also shared the questions and answers of The Mystery Of Bermuda Triangle, The Charge of the Light Brigade and Dr. Anandibai Joshi so, make sure to check these posts as well.
The Blue Carbuncle Questions & Answers
Question 1: Read the extract given below and answer the following questions:
‘Eh? What of it, then? Has it returned……….the kitchen window?’ ‘See here, sir! See what my wife found in its crop!’ He held out his hand …
(a) What is the ‘it’ mentioned in the above lines?
Answer: ‘It’ refers to the Christmas goose found by Peterson as he was trying to help a stranger who was caught in a fight with some goons on the road.
(b) Who are the people engaged in the above conversation?
Answer: Peterson, the commissionaire, and Sherlock Holmes, the private detective, are engaged in the above conversation.
(c) What had the speaker’s wife found in its crop?
Answer: The speaker- Peterson’s wife had found a stolen precious/costly/ priceless jewel/ gem/ diamond- the blue carbuncle in the crop of the goose.
(d) What happened to ‘it’?
Answer: The Christmas goose was cooked and consumed by Peterson and his family.
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Question 2: What object was kept under examination by Holmes?
Answer: A seedy, disreputable hard felt hat.
Question 3: How did the commissionaire come into the possession of a hat and a goose?
Answer: As the commissionaire was returning home early on Christmas morning, he witnessed a row between a stranger and a group of rowdies. Peterson rushed forward to protect the stranger from the rowdies. However, on seeing the police officer the stranger dropped the goose and ran away. The rowdies also fled. So, Peterson was left in possession of the stranger’s fallen hat and goose.
Question 4: How did Holmes deduce that the man was intellectual?
Answer: Holmes placed the hat on his head, it settled on the bridge of his nose. According to him, a man with such a head must have a large brain and obviously something in it.
Question 5: Why did Holmes place an advertisement in the evening papers?
Answer: Holmes placed an advertisement in the evening papers to find Mr. Henry Barker, the owner of the Christmas goose. He wished to solve the mystery of the theft of the jewel and wanted to question Mr. Henry Barker to know where the goose had been bought from.
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The Blue Carbuncle Questions & Answers
Question 6: Which characters in the story do the following sentences refer to? What do they tell us about them?
(a) “He held out his hand …………………………centre of the palm a brilliantly scintillating blue stone.”
Answer: The above line refers to the Peterson, the commissionaire who was holding the Blue Carbuncle.
Peterson arrives at Holmes’ residence after he finds the stone in the crop of the goose. This stone is the Blue Carbuncle that belonged to the countess of Morcar and was stolen from Hotel Cosmopolitan a few days ago.
(b) “That the man was highly intellectual………… and also that he was fairly well-to-do………… although he has now fallen upon evil days.”
Answer: The lines are spoken by Sherlock Holmes and refer to Henry Baker.
The above lines focus on the keen analytical sense of Mr. Holmes as a detective. By the examination of a mere hat, he was able to deduce more or less, the life story of Henry Baker, which turns out to be true.
(c) “In order to escape suspicion………. down the throat of one white goose…..tail. Later when I cut…………..goose, the stone was not there.”
Answer: The above lines are spoken by James Ryder with reference to the blue carbuncle that he stole.
When Holmes corners him, James Ryder accepts his crime and narrates in entirety how he stole the carbuncle from Hotel Cosmopolitan and framed the plumber. He also disclosed that he hid the stone inside the stomach of a white goose with barred tail in order to escape suspicion. However, when he went to get the goose and the stone, it had been sold.
Question 7: Read the extract given below and answer the following questions:
‘That the man was highly intellectual………………well-to-do within the last three years……………..fallen upon evil days.’
(a) Find a word from the extract which is the antonym of ‘good’.
Answer: evil
(b) Who is the speaker of these lines?
Answer: Sherlock Holmes is the speaker of these lines.
(c) Whom is the speaker referring to?
Answer: Sherlock Holmes is referring to Henry Baker.
(d) How did the speaker deduce that there was decline in the man’s fortunes?
Answer: Sherlock Holmes looked at the hat and deduced that there was a decline in the man’s fortunes as the man could afford an expensive hat three years ago and has had no hat since then.
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Question 8: Why did Peterson rush into Holmes apartment dazed with astonishment?
Answer: Peterson’s wife had found a shining blue stone in the crop (throat) of the goose.
Question 9: Why was the blue stone so precious and what happened to it?
Answer: The blue stone was the scintillating blue Carbuncle possessed by The Countess of Morcar. It was lost at Hotel Cosmopolitan. A plumber – John Horner, was accused of having taken it from the jewel case of the Countess however, the stone was never found from the accused or in his rooms.
The Blue Carbuncle Questions & Answers
Question 10: Which chance meeting gave Holmes a leading clue to solving the case?
Answer: Holmes and Watson were tracking the path of the sale of the goose. As they left the shop of the salesman, Mr. Breckenridge – a small man came to the shop. From the way, Mr. Breckenridge was shouting at the man. Holmes learnt that the man had been repeatedly asking Mr. Breckenridge about the geese that his sister had sold to Mr. Breckenridge. This gave Holmes a clue that the small man knew something about the gem and the goose.
Question 11: What did Ryder do to escape suspicion?
Answer: He went to his sister’s house, who raised geese and thrust the stone down the throat of one white goose with a barred tail.
Question 12: Where had Ryder hidden the jewel and why couldn’t he retrieve it?
Answer: Ryder had hidden the jewel inside the crop of a bar-tailed goose bred by his sister, Mrs. Oakshott, in her backyard. Ryder had failed to notice that there were two bar-tailed geese in the group. He took the wrong goose home and by the time he came back for the other bar-tailed goose Mrs. Oakshott had sold it to Breckenridge.
Question 13: According to Holmes why did Ryder accuse the plumber Horner of stealing the carbuncle?
Answer: According to Holmes, Ryder knew that Horner was involved in such a theft before and hence the suspicion would easily fall on him.
Question 14: What facts do we know about the goose in the story?
Answer: The goose was of excellent quality and belonged to Mrs. Oakshott – James Ryder’s sister. It was a white goose with a barred tail. ‘For Mrs. Henry Baker’ was printed on a small card which was tied to the bird’s left leg when Peterson had found it.
Question 15: Was Holmes right in letting Ryder go? Why or why not?
Answer: Below are mentioned some hints in favour and against so, please expand the answer accordingly with the help of these hints.
For:
Holmes was right as it was Ryder’s first crime – given chance to reform, man offered to leave country – no use putting him with hardened criminals in jail – will make his behavior worse – Christmas season of forgiveness and love – besides the stone recovered – nobody hurt.
Against:
Holmes was wrong as it was wrong to let go of a criminal – he stole and put blame on another man – man might be encouraged to repeat the offense elsewhere – broke the law by not reporting the matter to the police, he doesn’t have the right of moral policing – deciding what is right for others.
So, these were The Blue Carbuncle Questions & Answers.