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CommonLit RUTHLESS Answers – FREE Access
Find the answer key for the topic “RUTHLESS” below:
Note: Be prepared to share your original ideas in a class discussion.
Discussion Questions & Answers
Following are our answers based on the questions provided:
Q.1. In the context of the text, do you think Judson was right to take justice into his own hands? Why or why not? Are there other ways that Judson could’ve possibly held the thief accountable without harming anyone?
Ans: Judson was right to take justice into his own hands because it proves that it’s dangerous to take justice into your own hands.
Q.2. Describe a time when you wanted to take justice into your own hands. What lessons did you learn from this experience?
Ans: Judson could have held a thief accountable without harming anyone by informing the local area police who would have conducted investigations to trace and catch the thief additionally in a worst-case scenario he would have used a less toxic substance. Judson could have punished him by changing the content of the liquor into vinegar rather than something lethal. The way Judson’s preoccupation with what he believes is “fair” leads to his downfall is when he inadvertently drinks the poisoned liquor. It would somehow teach the burglar that Judson or the owners already know about his existence. In this case, he’d be thinking twice before he does the act again.
Q.3. In the story, Judson would have lived if he hadn’t attempted to punish the thief. How fair is it that Judson died even though he didn’t technically commit a crime, while whoever stole his whiskey gets to live with the crime?
Ans: It is fair because it is seeming that Judson was told not to punish the thief, but did it anyway. It was not really his place to take care of a criminal. I’m not quite sure if the man was told not to punish the thief or not, but if so then the answer I’ve given would work.
Q.4. How is Judson’s preoccupation with what he believes is “fair” his downfall? Describe a time when something unfair happened to you and you had to let it go. How did you learn from the experience?
Ans: The way Judson’s preoccupation with what he believes is “fair” leads to his downfall is when he inadvertently drinks the poisoned liquor. This refers to the actions of Judson who is a stingy man and a miser who wants to do what is fair and does not listen to advice. Hence, we can see that he suspects a thief is taking his liquor and decides to poison it later his servant mistakenly gives him the poisoned liquor and he dies. One of the themes of the story is ruthlessness as Judson believes in dealing in a tough way with thieves.
Q.5. In the story, Judson believes that death is an appropriate punishment for the thief because every crime is equal in his eyes. Do you think that the punishment should fit the crime? Why or why not? How do you think Judson should have punished the thief?
Ans: I believe that punishment should fit the crime because crimes differ in gravity. Some crimes are heinous such as “torturing” people before they die while others are just misdemeanors such as “petty theft.” This means that heinous crimes should have heavier punishments than misdemeanors. For me, he could have punished him by changing the content of the liquor into vinegar rather than something lethal. It would somehow teach the burglar that Judson or the owners already know about his existence. In this case, he’d be thinking twice before he does the act again.
Guiding Questions & Answers
Following are our answers based on the questions provided:
Q.1. What event sets the main action of the story in motion?
Ans: the theft of some of Judson’s liquor
Q.2. How does Alec’s arrival at the cabin affect the events of the story?
Ans: It leads to Judson drinking poisoned whiskey.
Q.3. Which of the following actions causes Marcia’s fear?
Ans: “one by one he dropped the tablets into the bottle and held it up to watch them dissolve” (Paragraph 12)
Q.4. How does the conversation between Judson and his wife develop the plot of the passage?
Ans: It prompts Marcia to go to warn Alec’s wife about the poison.
Q.5. Which statement expresses the main theme of the story?
Ans: There will be consequences if you take justice into your own hands.
Q.6. Which detail from the text best reveals Judson’s belief about crime and punishment?
Ans: “We won’t be here till next spring. I can’t bear to think of that deathtrap waiting there all the time.” (Paragraph 22)
Q.7. How does Judson Webb cause his own death in “Ruthless”? Be sure to identify the most important lines of dialogue or events in the story and explain how they cause an important decision or action to take place.
Ans: Judson Webb died by drinking a bottle of whiskey that contained two tablets of rat poison.
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Conclusion
In CommonLit, “RUTHLESS” is one of the students’ favorite short stories authored by William DeMille for grade 8 students.
This short story revolves around a man’s cunning strategy to catch a suspected thief at his summer vacation home.
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