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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. When Hamilton de Souza puts together the pieces of a torn picture, who does the narrator think he recognizes in the photo?

2. What does the narrator think Tod Friendly would do at the food store?

3. Where does Tod Friendly live in the beginning of the book?

4. In the narrator's experience, where is Tod Friendly when he begins to touch himself?

5. From whom does Tod Friendly get a letter every year?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does John Young/Hamilton de Souza feel about his body?

2. What are some of the terms the narrator coins in order to make things make sense?

3. Describe the narrator's mindset at the beginning of the novel.

4. What do Tod Friendly/John Young/Hamilton de Souza/Odilo Unverdorben's name changes tell us about his character?

5. How does Tod feel about his physical body in the first chapter?

6. Describe the underground system for taking care of Nazis.

7. Describe how the narrator feels about Tod Friendly's work?

8. Describe John Young/Hamilton de Souza/Odilo Unverdorben's feelings about fleeing to America after the war.

9. Describe John Young's departure from Europe.

10. Is there any place where the narrator's understanding is more accurate than Tod Friendly's?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Babies are a recurring image in Time's Arrow. Cite three instances where babies appear and describe their significance in the context where they occur; then describe their symbolic significance. What qualities do they represent in Odilo's life? In the narrator's? In the other characters?

Essay Topic 2

Experiencing everything backward, the narrator mistakes helping people for hurting people and vice versa. Citing specific examples from the text, explore the meaning of this backwardness.

1. Does the narrator experience normal human reactions to what he sees, or are his emotions backward too? Can we trust him to have feelings based on what he sees?

2. Does the narrator's backwardness portray pain and assistance in a new or surprising light? What do we learn from the narrator about how people hurt or help each other?

3. Does the narrator's backwardness make us more or less sensitive to people's sufferings?

Essay Topic 3

Odilo Unverdorben immigrates to America to flee from his past.

1. What about America is attractive to him as a Nazi fugitive? Citing examples from the text as well as from your knowledge of American culture, describe the qualities that make America an attractive destination for Odilo. How does this compare or contrast with how we typically think of America? Is America a land of opportunity for Odilo as well?

2. If Odilo does not find contentment and forgiveness in the end, is this, to some extent, because he lives in America? Should America have been able to redeem him? Should America have brought him to justice?

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