The Orchard Keeper Study Guide

Kenneth Rattner is on the side of a road trying, unsuccessfully, to hitch-hike with the occasional car that passes by. He eventually walks to a gas station and wanders through the aisles, his purpose unclear. The storekeep asks him if he needs some help and he lies and says he is looking for a tire pump. The storekeep shows him where they are and Kenneth lies again, saying that he needs different kind. He asks the storekeep the distance to Atlanta—seventeen miles—and says that he better get going. The announcement confuses the storekeep, who was under the impression he had a flat tire. Kenneth finds another customer of the store on his way out and is able to ride with him part of the way to Atlanta which is just a stopping point on the way to Kenneth's ultimate destination, Knoxville. (read more)