Question

As soon as the pound notes were placed in his palm Jonathan simply closed it tight over them and buried fist and money inside his trouser pocket. He had to be extra careful because he had seen a man a couple of days earlier collapse into near madness in an instant before that oceanic crowd because no sooner had he got his twenty pounds than some heartless ruffian picked it off him. Though it was not right that a man in such an extremity of agony should be blamed yet many in the queues that day were able to remark quietly at the victim's carelessness, especially after he pulled out the innards of his pocket and revealed a hole in it big enough to pass a thief's head. But of course he had insisted that the money had been in the other pocket, pulling it out too to show its comparative wholeness. So one had to be careful. What do you think motivates the "many in the queues" to blame the man for being robbed? Mention both implied and explicit details and defend both using evidence from the story.

Answer 1

What motivates people in line to blame the man for being robbed is the fact that the man put the money in a pocket full of holes. For these people, the man was careless and "allowed" the theft to happen.

Step-by-step explanation:

In the text above, we see that a man saved money in a very inappropriate way, in a pocket with big holes. This pocket made it easier for this man to be stolen and to lose all the money he had that was necessary for him.

The people in line blamed the man for being robbed. That's because these people believe that only an extremely careless person would keep such a large amount of money in a totally inappropriate pocket. Although the man was innocent and powerless against thieves, people believe that it is his fault and that he deserved the theft.

Answer 2

The people in the queues say that the man was responsible for the robbery because he had put his money in a pocket which was full of holes.

They judge the man because he is careless with his wealth when there are many people who have little money. Jonathan lost his mining job, the same happened with several people. They blame the man with the holes in his pocket instead of accepting that "the heartless ruffian" is the one to blame.