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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What does the narrator admit he cares for in terms of sex?

2. What does the narrator admit is his fault?

3. What is Simone's favorite part of a bullfight?

4. From whom does Marcelle ask the narrator to protect her?

5. What does the narrator do for Simone during their first stop?

Short Essay Questions

1. Explain how the death of Granero occurs, and the result of his death in terms of his eye.

2. Explain the change in Simone following the death of Marcelle.

3. In Chapter 6, the author purposefully italicizes the words "wide eyes" and "white eggs". What is the significance of this?

4. Describe the narrator's thoughts about Marcelle as the couple rides home from the sanitarium in Chapter 5.

5. What tradition does Sir Edmond tell Simone of, and what is her response?

6. Describe the sexual fantasy of Simone and the narrator about Marcelle in Chapter 6.

7. Explain the author's comparison between his own life and the crow of a rooster.

8. What does Marcelle seem to fear most at the end of Chapter 7, and what does the narrator realize this fear relates to?

9. Why does the narrator claim he believes Simone urinates on the corpse of Marcelle?

10. Describe the scene in the pigsty in Chapter 9, and explain its significance.

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Throughout the novel, sexual gratification and violence appear to go hand in hand. Discuss this idea in depth. Why is sex and violence tied together in the novel? What are some examples of this theme? What are the narrator's thoughts on this particular link? What does this idea lead the teens to do?

Essay Topic 2

There is a theme used throughout the novel of the point at which things meet, such as the fine point between life and death, as experienced by the priest as he orgasms at the moment of death. What are other topics that are explored in this same way? How is this line used in the novel? What is the goal of the author in exploring these lines?

Essay Topic 3

The ending description of the dead priest's eye, appearing as Marcelle's eye, looking out at the narrator from between the thighs of Simone, covered in urine and ejaculation fluid, is a highly visual representation of several key points in the novel. Discuss each of these in detail. What is the symbolism of the entire image? What does it represent? Why does the narrator see the eye of Marcelle? What does he equate the urine and ejaculation fluid to? What does it symbolize in terms of the themes within the novel? What moment in the novel does each represent independently?

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