2. In Chapter 1, what causes the boy's mother to become inconsolable?
(a) One of her children dies.
(b) Her husband leaves.
(c) She loses her job.
(d) The boy becomes sick.

3. What is going to be built across the river?
(a) British oxygen plant.
(b) Catholic church.
(c) Police station.
(d) Private farmhouse.

4. Who tells the boy about the murder of 1921?
(a) Brother Regan.
(b) Rory Hannaway.
(c) Billy Mahon.
(d) Neil McLaughlin.

5. Which two characters are introduced first at the beginning of the novel?
(a) The boy and Una, his sister.
(b) The boy and Rory Hannaway.
(c) The boy and his father.
(d) The boy and his mother.

Short Answer Questions

1. What does the boy's father do for a living?

2. According to the local belief his father told the boy, who gathers at the Field of the Disappeared at Christmas and other festivals?

3. How do the boy's father's parents die?

4. From which part of the traditions of both Protestants and Catholics does the boy derive excitement?

5. Who is Katie?

Short Essay Questions

1. How can we see in Chapter 2 that the belief in the supernatural is a powerful force in Northern Ireland during this time?

2. When the boy's father takes him and his brother Liam out on the boat, what does his father reveal to them and why does it make the boy feel uncomfortable?

3. Why doesn't the author ever reveal the narrator's first name?

4. How does the boy get rid of the rat problem?

5. Describe the narrator.

6. What causes the rat infestation mentioned in Chapter 3?

7. Describe Grianan.

8. How are superstitions introduced in Chapter 1?

9. How is the boy's father's life seen as very difficult and sad?

10. How do we see the boy react and respond to his circumstances in Chapter 1 instead of accepting them at face value?

(see the answer keys)

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