2. What does the boy try to do after his talk with Sergeant Burke in Chapter 3?
(a) To talk to his mother.
(b) To run away.
(c) To hide in his room.
(d) To talk to his father.

3. What happens to the boy when the police come to search the house?
(a) He is told to leave the house so they can search it.
(b) He is hidden in the attic by his father.
(c) He is taken to the jail for further interrogation.
(d) He is beaten by the police.

4. What is distinct about Larry McLaughlin's character?
(a) He wanders.
(b) He is missing.
(c) He tells stories.
(d) He does not talk.

5. Why do the boy's father's drinking binges stop between 1920 and 1926?
(a) His father found out Eddie was innocent in 1926.
(b) His father found out about Eddie being an informer in 1926.
(c) His father revealed to his wife who killed Eddie in 1926.
(d) His father found out who killed Eddie in 1926.

Short Answer Questions

1. What information about the family secret does the boy know in Chapter 3 that his parents do not know?

2. When the boy and his brother, Liam, are taken across the river by their father, what does his father's explanation about Eddie reveal to the boy?

3. What happens to both Brigid and Larry in Chapter 2?

4. From where does the title of the novel get its name?

5. What do people believe lay below the ruins of Grianan?

Short Essay Questions

1. When the boy's father takes him and his brother Liam out on the boat, what does his father reveal to them and why does it make the boy feel uncomfortable?

2. How does the boy get rid of the rat problem?

3. How is the motif of fire used in Chapter 3?

4. Why is Una's death seen as an outlet for the boy's mother?

5. Why is the boy narrator fond of Aunt Katie?

6. What local belief surrounds the Field of the Disappeared?

7. The theme of disappearance is further discussed in Chapter 2. Explain.

8. What memory does the boy have of an interaction between him and Crazy Joe?

9. What happens to Larry McLaughlin?

10. How do we see the boy react and respond to his circumstances in Chapter 1 instead of accepting them at face value?

(see the answer keys)

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