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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. At the beginning of Part 2, Chapter 2, what do Brown and Martha quarrel about?

2. When Brown disembarks from the Medea, why is Martha sitting in the place she used to rendezvous with him?

3. When Mr. Smith and Brown unexpectedly meet again in Santo Domingo, what does Mr. Smith offer?

4. When Brown returns to his hotel in Santo Domingo, what does he find on his pillow?

5. What were the countess's last words to her son?

Short Essay Questions

1. 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?

2. 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?

3. On the way to the hotel immediately after his arrival in Haiti, Brown and Martha are stopped at a roadblock and searched. What is the purpose of telling this scene?

4. 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?

5. When Mr. Smith sees Philipot's body in the pool, he thinks he is a sleeping beggar. How does this thought reflect on Mr. Smith's character? What about the fact that he wants to take money to the man?

6. 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?

7. In Part 1, Chapter 2, how is Brown and Martha's relationship portrayed? What is the irony of their situation?

8. From the conversation with his mother, what does Brown learn about his father? How is this knowledge in keeping with the family dynamic?

9. Brown does not give a definition of the Tonton Macoutes until Part 3, Chapter 4. How does this reinforce to the reader what the characters experienced?

10. Brown observes, following his disastrous conversation with Angel, that the quality which attracts him in a woman is not beauty but goodness. How is this similar to Jones's pursuit of virtue? Why does he find goodness in Martha?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Of his relationship with Martha, Brown says, "Like some wines, our love could neither mature nor travel." Find examples in the text which illustrate this. How was their love bound to the moment? How were they bound to Haiti? What clues tell the reader that their love will not last?

Essay Topic 2

Are Mr. and Mrs. Smith realistic characters? That is, can the reader take them seriously? Find examples within the book of their naive opinions and of their realistic ones. Which kind of opinion occurs more frequently? How do they fit with Brown's opinion that life is a farce and its characters are comedians?

Essay Topic 3

What role does Angel play in the novel? Could it be said that he acts as Brown's conscience, or is he merely an annoying child? Why is Martha so attached to him and how does this attachment change her relationship with Brown?

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