Sam Patch, the Famous Jumper

How did Sam Patch’s career in textile mills—from his early years as a child to his time as a boss spinner—influence his career as a waterfall jumper?

How did the relationship between people and the environment change in 19th-century America? How does Johnson explain these changes?

What economic and social forces brought the Patches from a prosperous landowning family to an impoverished working-class family?

The only woman who features prominently in the book is Patch’s mother, Abigail Patch. Why might women have been absent from the world Patch inhabited?

Johnson takes seriously Patch’s belief that waterfall jumping is an art that he has mastered. How does this affect the book’s tone? How might the book be different if Johnson took a different attitude toward Patch?

How was Sam Patch’s narrative and likeness used in the years after his death? What purpose was his memory put to?

Patch’s death in his final jump at Rochester comes as a surprise to readers unfamiliar with his life story. What is the effect of this surprise? Why might Johnson structure the book in this way?

What caused the growing conflicts between working-class people and the industrial class in the 19th century? What forms did these conflicts take?