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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. Why does the Secretary for Social Welfare suggest that Duvalierville is a good place for the Smiths' vegetarian center?

2. Why does Brown go to the casino after talking with Jones?

3. Why does Jones want a business partner in the venture he is planning?

4. When Martha tells Brown that she is sleeping with Jones, what is the worst part of that statement?

5. What does the priest do with the bodies which the dancers bring to him?

Short Essay Questions

1. At the end of Part 2, Chapter 1, Brown comes to a realization about himself. What is this realization? How does it change the reader's understanding of him? How does it fit with his wandering to the casino and then to the Medea, talking with the purser?

2. In order to leave the Medea to travel to the British embassy, Jones dresses as a woman. What is the effect of this costume? How does it reflect on Jones?

3. As the two men wait out the night in the cemetery, Jones tells Brown the truth about his life. Is this a fitting time for his confession? Why would he confess to Brown instead of anyone else?

4. Though Brown does not want to board the Medea for a last drink with the purser, he feels attached to the ship and the memories there. What does this say about Brown's loneliness? Is he happy alone in his hotel?

5. When Brown attends the Voodoo ceremony with Joseph, several white-wrapped bodies are held close to the flame so that the skin burns. What is the effect of this scene? What is its possible antecedent?

6. What is the purpose of the Tonton Macoutes' visit to Brown at six o'clock in the morning? Do they expect to find anyone?

7. When Brown's car breaks down on the road, he and Jones take refuge in a cemetery until the morning. How does this fit their time in Haiti? How does it portend what is to come?

8. According to Doctor Magiot in Part 2, Chapter 1, what role does Voodoo play in Haitian culture? What is its relation to Catholicism?

9. The second time Brown visits the casino, the place is drastically changed from the night he met Martha. How is it different? What does this signal about Haiti's economy?

10. When Jones and Brown board the Medea so Jones can ask for asylum, Brown describes the ship's captain like a judge. What is the effect of this appearance? Is this the first time a judge figure has appeared in the book? How does this contrast to Haitian culture?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

In Chapter Two of the first section, Brown notes that the ambassador is proud of what he owns, yet in the case of his wife he is perhaps willing to share. Examine the ambassador's character in comparison to this statement. Why, in light of the Haitian culture that the author explains, is possession so important? What does this say about the ambassador's marriage?

Essay Topic 2

How does Jones's funeral tie the story together? Include all the characters who are present and the ways they react to the funeral. How is it fitting that all characters are brought together for this funeral? Can the honorable funeral be a form of forgiveness for Jones's lies?

Essay Topic 3

Look back through the novel at the main characters. Have any of them changed? If so, how? Has the book simply progressed through a period of time, or has it traced the development of particular characters?

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