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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. How does Martha explain Brown's view of the world?
(a) As a desert without water.
(b) As a song he cannot sing.
(c) As a novel he is writing.
(d) As a jungle he must navigate.

2. On Brown's property, what does Dr. Philipot do?
(a) Shoots himself through the heart.
(b) Hangs himself.
(c) Cuts his wrists and throat in the pool.
(d) Verbally attacks Joseph.

3. What happens in the casino after Brown won a large amount of money?
(a) He forgot to cash in his chips for money.
(b) He got drunk and passed out in his hotel room.
(c) He lost his virginity to an older woman.
(d) He walked home and hid the money under his mattress.

4. Why does Joseph limp?
(a) The Tonton Macoutes beat him up.
(b) A jeep had run over his foot.
(c) He had a childhood disease that crippled him.
(d) He was wounded in the war.

5. When Brown wants to get Jones released from jail, what advice does Petit Pierre give him?
(a) To process his appeal through the proper channels.
(b) Not to exaggerate the situation.
(c) Not to get involved at all, for his own safety.
(d) To begin by bribing the Tontons Macoute guards.

Short Answer Questions

1. Why does Dr. Philipot not want to flee the Tontons Macoute?

2. Where does Brown get his information about the curfew in Haiti?

3. Why did Brown give Marcel a large amount of British money?

4. As far as Brown knows, where is Jones's home?

5. What is the supposed reason for Jones's arrest when he attempts to pass through customs?

Short Essay Questions

1. In his mother's desk, Brown finds a disk which Doctor Magiot recognizes as a medal of the resistance. What does this reveal about his mother?

2. When Brown first mentions his hotel to the passengers aboard the Medea, he shows them bright postcards of bikini-clad girls and jazz drummers. Does this present Brown as an optimist or a pessimist? What do the postcards tell the reader about his character?

3. Jones is the mysterious guest whom Captain Concasseur is protecting at Mere Catherine's and the man who was occupied with Tin Tin. What is the effect of this surprise? How does it help to reveal Jones's character further?

4. Doctor Magiot asserts, in a conversation with Brown, "No, I don't despair, I don't believe in despair, but our problems won't be solved by the Marines. . . . We are an evil slum floating a few miles from Florida, and no American will help us with arms or money or counsel" (p. 222). Is this a fair view of the situation? What might lead the doctor to believe this?

5. Doctor Magiot's funeral oration for Philipot consists mostly of the consolation that he died a natural death, which is to say he was not murdered. Considering the political environment, is this a compliment? What about the dead man's sense of mathematics?

6. With the thought that Doctor Philipot's spirit might be hovering around the body, hoping for an encouraging word of send-off, Brown purposely speaks trivial words about eating eggs in the morning. What does this tell the reader about his perception of death? How does it fit the tone of the book?

7. When Captain Concasseur returns to Haiti, his single goal is to catch Jones. How is this fitting to Jones's character? What about to the character of Haitian politics?

8. When Brown reaches the hotel, Joseph answers his call timidly, and with a bowed head tells him the story of Doctor Philipot. What does this tell the reader about Joseph's character?

9. In Chapter 1 of Part 1, Brown and Jones meet as Jones is attempting to bribe the steward to switch their rooms. How is this first scene indicative of Jones's character?

10. Brown is aware of the ridiculous nature of three men with common names: Jones, Smith, and Brown. What does this tell the reader about Brown's view of the story?

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