A Mercy MCQs

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Author: Nasir Iqbal | Assistant Professor of English Literature


Updated on: November 14, 2025
Estimated Reading Time: 17 min

A Mercy MCQs

1. What is the protagonist’s primary motivation for setting out on her journey?

A. Fear of the ghost
B. Hunger for the man
C. To seek revenge
D. To find her mother

B. Hunger for the man.
Florens admits that nothing is more tempting than this errand due to her hunger for the blacksmith.

2. Who is Rebekka’s Native American helper who is constantly watchful?

A. Sorrow
B. A minha mãe
C. Florens
D. Lina

D. Lina.
Lina is the Native American woman who was rescued by soldiers and acquired by Sir to help Mistress.

3. What is the total acreage of Jacob Vaark’s dormant patroonship?

A. Sixty acres
B. One hundred fifty
C. Twenty-three
D. One hundred twenty

D. One hundred twenty.
Jacob inherited one hundred twenty acres of a dormant patroonship from an uncle he had never met.

4. According to Lina, what destroyed her original village?

A. A fierce war
B. God’s displeasure
C. Raging fire
D. A lethal pox

D. A lethal pox.
Lina watched the soldiers circle her whole village with fire after the sickness had swept through and killed her people.
5. Which items of clothing did Florens always intensely beg for as a child?

A. Cotton gloves
B. Anybody’s shoes
C. Silk stockings
D. A woolen cloak

B. Anybody’s shoes.
Florens recounts that as a child, she was never able to abide being barefoot and always begged for shoes.

6. What does Florens use to estimate her current age?

A. The number of fires
B. The years of freedom
C. Times plums were boiled
D. Number of children born

C. Times plums were boiled.
Florens estimates she must be sixteen because they have boiled wild plums for jam and cake eight times.

7. Jacob Vaark acquired the servant Florens as a percentage of what?

A. A ruined crop
B. His unpaid debt
C. Trading lumber
D. Renting the land

B. His unpaid debt.
Jacob accepted the girl as partial payment from D’Ortega, never expecting to see the rest of the money.

8. Before coming to Jacob’s farm, where Sorrow had previously lived her life?

A. In a barn loft
B. On a foundered ship
C. In the marshland
D. With the Presbyterians

B. On a foundered ship.
Sorrow, or Captain, had never lived on land before the sawyer found her near the riverbank after the wreck.

9. What deadly sickness ultimately claims Jacob Vaark’s life?

A. Yellow fever
B. Ship fever
C. Smallpox
D. Cholera

C. Smallpox.
Jacob Vaark fell sick with the sickness—called “Pox”—that caused blisters and vomiting, eventually killing him.
10. What specific material did the blacksmith use for the iron gate’s crowning flourish?

A. Thick vines
B. Gilded serpents
C. Simple pyramids
D. Three-foot bars

B. Gilded serpents.
The gate had a flourish of gilded vines, which, upon closer inspection, were spectacular serpents ending in flowers.

11. What was Reverend Father risking by secretly teaching slaves to read and write?

A. Execution
B. Prison or fines
C. Losing his books
D. A long whipping

B. Prison or fines.
If wicked Virginians or Protestants caught the Reverend Father teaching literacy, he would face prison or pay money.

12. According to Florens’ ‘rememory’ definition, pictures of the past linger in what location?

A. Only in dreams
B. On the sea
C. The physical place
D. The heart

C. The physical place.
Florens experiences “rememory,” where past events happen again in the physical place they occurred.

13. Where did Rebekka and her new husband, Jacob Vaark, get married?

A. In a church pew
B. On his new land
C. At Pursey’s tavern
D. Next to a coffeehouse

D. Next to a coffeehouse.
They were married quickly at a place that advertised “Marriages performed within,” next to a coffeehouse.

14. Jacob was initially attracted to Rebekka because she was “unchurched.” What else was he seeking?

A. Obedient, literate
B. Childless, beautiful
C. Strong, high-born
D. Wealthy, well-mannered

A. Obedient, literate.
Jacob wanted an unchurched woman of childbearing age who was obedient but not groveling, and literate but not proud.
15. What was the name of the ship Rebekka took to the colonies?

A. The Golden Lion
B. The Mayflower
C. The Angelus
D. The Sea Witch

C. The Angelus.
Rebekka and the seven other women were assigned to steerage on the ship named Angelus.

16. What humiliation did Florens experience on the boat with Reverend Father?

A. Getting sea sick
B. A woman stole her shoes
C. Having no food
D. Being put in chains

B. A woman stole her shoes.
A woman took Florens’ cloak and wooden shoes after Reverend Father left her alone, leaving her freezing.

17. How many of Rebekka’s children died before the age of five?

A. Two boys
B. Four children
C. Three infants
D. One daughter

B. Four children.
She watched three infants die in a row, followed by the accidental death of Patrician, her five-year-old daughter.

18. What animal did Sorrow report kicking her, causing a complication while milking?

A. A bull
B. The nanny goat
C. The heifer
D. A cow

C. The heifer.
Sorrow mis-handled the udder while pregnant, and reported to Lina that the cow/heifer had kicked her.

19. What did Rebekka and Lina make that required mincing neats’ feet and adding brandy?

A. Brandy butter
B. Calves’ liver supper
C. Mincemeat
D. Stewed plums

C. Mincemeat.
They were making mincemeat for Christmas, using neats’ feet, fat, gristle, raisins, apple, and brandy.
20. How did Florens’ mother choose her daughter over her son?

A. She loved the boy more
B. The boy was still nursing
C. Florens was already gone
D. Florens was older

B. The boy was still nursing.
My mãe begged Jacob to take Florens, her daughter, instead of her little boy, who was still at her breast.

21. What did Jacob Vaark compare D’Ortega’s opulent but unsustainable wealth to?

A. Useless baubles
B. Tobacco dust
C. Swamp gas
D. Old velvet

A. Useless baubles.
Jacob observed that D’Ortega was turning his profit into useless baubles, indicating his serious debt issues.

22. What was the name of the Virginia plantation where Jacob Vaark dined with D’Ortega?

A. Sweet Home
B. Jublio
C. Pursey’s Tavern
D. Fort Orange

B. Jublio.
Jacob was summoned to the planter D’Ortega’s house, a plantation called Jublio.

23. What did Jacob tell Rebekka was the only thing a man truly leaves behind?

A. His fortune
B. His reputation
C. His house
D. His trade

C. His house.
Jacob told Rebekka, who argued that a man is his reputation, that “What a man leaves behind is what a man is”.

24. What surprising fact did the blacksmith share about his ancestry?

A. They were free men
B. They were all farmers
C. They were ship captains
D. They were blacksmiths

D. They were blacksmiths.
The blacksmith told Florens that his father and grandfather were blacksmiths, back for a thousand years.
25. In the story Lina told Florens, what word swelled like thunder, causing the eagle’s eggs to crack?

A. God
B. Fear
C. Mine
D. Death

C. Mine.
The traveler laughed and said, “This is perfect. This is mine,” and the word boomed, causing the eagle’s eggs to quiver and crack.

26. What does Florens realize about her body while naked under examination in the Widow Ealing’s closet?

A. It is scarred
B. It is unseemly
C. They lack recognition
D. She is beautiful

C. They lack recognition.
The women look at Florens’ body across distances without recognition, unlike animals viewing her.

27. According to Jacob Vaark, what animals have a life span longer than towns?

A. Geese
B. Turtles
C. Bears
D. Raccoons

B. Turtles.
Jacob stated that he organized his geography around the life span of turtles, which was longer than towns/forts.

28. What was Sorrow’s name for her invisible companion/alter-ego?

A. Little one
B. Captain
C. Twin
D. Sorrow

C. Twin.
Sorrow called her identical self “Twin,” who she believed couldn’t be seen by anybody else.

29. What specific injury did Florens inflict on Malaik that made the blacksmith turn against her?

A. A broken jaw
B. A shoulder crack
C. A stab wound
D. A bleeding nose

B. A shoulder crack.
Florens admits she heard the boy’s shoulder crack when she clutched him to make him stop screaming.
30. What material did Lina use to create a new dress for herself after the Presbyterians burned her old one?

A. Silk cloth
B. Deerskin
C. Duffel cloth
D. Cotton sacking

C. Duffel cloth.
The Presbyterians burned her deerskin dress because it offended God, and gave her a good duffel cloth one.

31. What did the blacksmith say was the reason Florens could not travel with him to Rebekka?

A. She was too slow
B. She was too wild
C. He must care for Malaik
D. The trip was too long

C. He must care for Malaik.
The blacksmith said Florens must wait because the foundling boy, Malaik, was not to be left alone.

32. Why was Sorrow considered bad luck by Lina, especially after the children died?

A. She was a witch
B. She was a natural curse
C. She stole food
D. She talked to the grass

B. She was a natural curse.
Lina was sure that the early deaths of Mistress’s sons were caused by the natural curse that was Sorrow.

33. When Sorrow was sick, what item did the blacksmith heat and use to slit open one of her swellings?

A. A sharp stone
B. A razor
C. A knife
D. A hot poker

C. A knife.
The smithy heated a knife to slit open one of Sorrow’s boils and offered her own blood drops to drink.

34. What specific feature of the blacksmith made him appear arrogant to Lina?

A. His great height
B. His yellow eyes
C. His muscular arms
D. His expensive clothes

B. His yellow eyes.
Lina noted his arrogance was clear when he looked directly at Mistress with slanted, yellow eyes, which was usually a threat.
35. What part of the blacksmith’s anatomy did Florens obsessively examine while he slept?

A. His hands
B. His face
C. His feet
D. His shoulder

B. His face.
Florens confesses that she stole a candle to see more of him and watched his sleeping face for too long.

36. What was Jacob Vaark’s main commodity that gave him rapid and immense enrichment?

A. Sugar/Rum
B. Tobacco
C. Fur
D. Slaves

A. Sugar/Rum.
Jacob’s new plan, based on the sugar/rum trade, was “sweet” and offered massive profit with low risk of failure.

37. What did Florens’ mother say was necessary for her to have pleasure?

A. Forgiveness
B. The blacksmith’s love
C. Hard soles on her feet
D. Being with her son

C. Hard soles on her feet.
Florens writes that her mother can now have pleasure because the soles of Florens’ feet are as hard as cypress.

38. When Jacob and D’Ortega inspected the assembled slaves, what did D’Ortega identify?

A. Scars and brands
B. Talents and weaknesses
C. Names and origins
D. Purchase prices

B. Talents and weaknesses.
D’Ortega identified the slaves’ talents, weaknesses, and possibilities, but stayed silent about their scars.

39. After Jacob’s death, Rebekka’s shipmate ghosts suggest her devotion was so frail it was merely what?

A. A childish game
B. Satan’s allure
C. A woman’s folly
D. God’s test

B. Satan’s allure.
Rebekka wondered if her happiness and devotion were Satan’s alluring deceit, asking if that was why death returned.
40. Which body part did the women at the meetinghouse examine on Florens for telltale signs of being the Black Man’s minion?

A. Her hair
B. Her knees
C. Her navel
D. Her hands

C. Her navel.
The woman inspected her body, wondering if her navel was in the right place or if her knees bent backward.

41. What did Lina make for Florens ten years prior that Florens left under the broken sleigh?

A. Rabbit skin shoes
B. A wool shawl
C. A silk petticoat
D. A straw mat

A. Rabbit skin shoes.
Lina made the rabbit skin shoes for Florens, which she found lying under the sleigh, “lonely, empty”.

42. How many years passed between Lina’s arrival and the arrival of Jacob’s wife, Rebekka?

A. Six years
B. One decade
C. Seven years
D. Two years

A. Six years.
Lina erased the six years preceding the death of the world before Mistress arrived, and their life together began.

43. What specific action did Rebekka perform after Jacob’s death to show her intense grief and despair?

A. She cut her hair
B. She stared into a mirror
C. She refused to speak
D. She slept on his grave

B. She stared into a mirror.
Rebekka’s desire to look at her own pockmarked face in the mirror signaled that she was soliciting bad luck and was about to die.

44. What did Florens decide to use as her final writing surface for her long telling?

A. Parchment paper
B. The walls of the room
C. A slate and chalk
D. The forge anvil

B. The walls of the room.
Florens notes that there is no more room on the floor, so she holds light and carves letters onto the walls.
45. Who did Sorrow choose as her daughter’s father/godfather after the traumatic birth?

A. The blacksmith
B. Sir Vaark
C. Willard and Scully
D. Captain

C. Willard and Scully.
Willard and Scully acted as midwives, and afterward they assumed godfather status for Sorrow’s baby girl.

46. What physical feature did Mistress D’Ortega and her sons wear despite the oppressive heat?

A. Fur coats
B. Silver jewelry
C. Elaborate wigs
D. Silk stockings

C. Elaborate wigs.
Jacob was astonished that D’Ortega’s sons, thirteen and fourteen, wore periwigs like their father in the boiling heat.

47. What did Florens recall her mother saying about “bad women” when discussing shoes?

A. They were dangerous
B. They wear high heels
C. They are cursed
D. They wear broken shoes

B. They wear high heels.
My mãe said that only bad women wear high heels and that Florens was dangerous for wanting them.

48. What did Sorrow name her baby girl after she was born?

A. Twin
B. Complete
C. Captain
D. Sorrow

B. Complete.
Sorrow looked into her daughter’s eyes and knew instantly what to name her, saying, “My name is Complete”.

49. When Florens saw the blacksmith and herself reflected in the blue water, what did she see in her own reflection?

A. A slave’s face
B. Nothing at all
C. A child’s eyes
D. Daughter Jane

B. Nothing at all.
Florens looked into the blue lake but saw that her face was not reflected there, only nothing where she should be.
50. When the blacksmith rejected Florens, he told her the source of her enslavement was who?

A. Sir Vaark
B. Her mother
C. Herself
D. D’Ortega

C. Herself.
The blacksmith told Florens she had become a slave by choice because her head was empty and her body was wild.

Brief Overview

A Mercy is a novel by Toni Morrison, published in 2008. The story is set in 17th-century America and functions as a prequel to the American experience, examining themes of slavery, social class, and the formation of identity in the New World.

The core narrative follows Florens, a young slave girl, around the year 1690. She works on a modest northern farm owned by Jacob Vaark, a Dutch landowner and trader whom she calls Sir. Florens came to the farm because her mother willingly gave her away to Sir to pay off a debt.

Florens’ mother, who Senhor D’Ortega in Maryland owned, offered her daughter to Sir. The mother believed that giving Florens away was an act of saving her from the more brutal fate of being enslaved on a sugar plantation.

Later, Sir dies from smallpox. His wife, Mistress Rebekka, also catches the illness. Florens is sent on a long, difficult errand to find a free Black man, the blacksmith, whom she loves. The blacksmith is skilled and may be able to cure Mistress Rebekka.

Florens travels alone through the dangerous wilderness. When she finally reaches the blacksmith, he rejects her. He tells her she is still a slave because she gives up her own “mind” and freedom to adore him.

Florens is left lost and heartbroken. She finally writes her story on the walls of Sir’s new, empty house.

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