1. After the father's death, the mother is in control of the family's finances. She consequently mismanages the money, leaving the family poor. What did the mother buy that resulted in the loss of the family's wealth?
(a) Furniture.
(b) Clothes.
(c) Jewelry.
(d) Property.

2. What does the mother equate the narrator's awakening sexuality with?
(a) Money.
(b) Being a teenager.
(c) Bad influences.
(d) Poverty.

3. What contributed to the narrator's ravaged face?
(a) Drinking heavily.
(b) A fight with the older brother.
(c) Smoking heavily.
(d) An car accident.

4. Who dies prior to the novel's narration?
(a) The mother and younger brother only.
(b) The mother, and both the younger and older brothers.
(c) The mother only.
(d) The younger brother only.

5. How long does Dô stay with the mother?
(a) Until the narrator's affair.
(b) Until the mother's death.
(c) Until Dô's death.
(d) Until the family leaves for France.

Short Answer Questions

1. Although seemingly impossible, according to society at the time, what could the wives of the colonial potentates have done to keep their husbands from straying?

2. Whose wasteful lifestyle contributes to the family's poverty?

3. In the beginning of the story, the narrator appears old and "ravaged." During what age period is it noted that her most rapid aging took place?

4. How old was the narrator when she cut her hair for the first time?

5. How does the younger brother die?

(see the answer key)

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