Study Questions
1. Why is No. 402 useful to Rubashov?

2. What sentence was imposed on Rip van Winkle in his home country?

3. What is the likely reason for the twitching of Rip van Winkle’s eyebrow?

4. Who is the source of the news of the upcoming executions?

5. Describe Bogrov’s face as he is dragged to his execution.

Answers
1. No. 402 is useful to Rubashov because he knows how the prison is organized and what happens in it.

2. In his home country, Rip van Winkle was sentenced to death by hanging. After a year, his sentence was commuted to life imprisonment, of which he served twenty years, mostly in solitary confinement.

3. Rip van Winkle’s eyebrow probably twitches because he spent so much time inside a dark prison cell.

4. Hare-lip is the source of the news of the upcoming executions.

5. Bogrov’s face has whitish strands of hair hanging over it, an open mouth with drops of sweat stuck to it, and spittle coming down his chin as he is dragged to his execution.