Beloved MCQs

Author's Photo
Have a specific topic you'd like me to cover? Feel free to contact me with your suggestions.
Author: Nasir Iqbal | Assistant Professor of English Literature


Updated on: November 14, 2025
Estimated Reading Time: 16 min

Beloved MCQs

1. What is the house number of Sethe and Denver’s home?

A. Fifty-two
B. One twenty-four
C. Seven hundred
D. Bluestone Road

B. One twenty-four.
The house is identified early on as 124, which is spiteful and full of a baby’s venom.

2. The spiteful ghost haunting 124 is the spirit of whom?

A. Baby Suggs
B. The baby girl
C. Howard’s son
D. Sethe’s mother

B. The baby girl.
The haunting spirit is Sethe’s daughter, who died very young, not even two years old.

3. What event immediately signaled Buglar should flee the house?

A. Shattered mirror
B. Cracked window
C. Smoking chickpeas
D. Gusts of sour air

A. Shattered mirror.
Buglar ran away immediately when merely looking into a mirror shattered it.

4. Who is the last of the Sweet Home men to arrive at 124?

A. Sixo
B. Halle Suggs
C. Paul D
D. Paul A Garner

C. Paul D.
Paul D is the last surviving Sweet Home man, arriving eighteen years after leaving Kentucky.
5. What did Sethe get engraved on the baby’s headstone for ten minutes of work?

A. Dearly Beloved
B. Dearly
C. Beloved
D. Enough

C. Beloved.
Sethe settled for the single word “Beloved” on the headstone after only ten minutes with the engraver.

6. What did Baby Suggs spend her remaining energy pondering?

A. Her grandsons
B. Forgetfulness
C. Color
D. The dead

C. Color.
Baby Suggs lay still on her sickbed, using her remaining energy to ponder the vibrancy of color.

7. What did the whitegirl call the scar tissue on Sethe’s back?

A. Washboard
B. Iron maze
C. Whipped skin
D. Chokecherry tree

D. Chokecherry tree.
A whitegirl told Sethe her back scar looked exactly like a chokecherry tree, complete with trunk, branches, and leaves.

8. How did Halle acquire Baby Suggs’ freedom?

A. Mr. Garner’s debt
B. Five years’ Sundays
C. Renting himself out
D. Running away

B. Five years’ Sundays.
Halle Suggs bought his mother, Baby Suggs, out of slavery using five years’ worth of Sundays.

9. Who was the white girl who helped Sethe give birth to Denver?

A. Miss Bodwin
B. Lillian Garner
C. Amy Denver
D. Patsy

C. Amy Denver.
The ragged-looking white girl who helped Sethe deliver Denver in the boat was named Amy.
10. While waiting for Sethe to choose a man, the Sweet Home men engaged in which activity?

A. Reading books
B. Fucking cows
C. Building fences
D. Thrashing on pallets

B. Fucking cows.
The men felt a sàvage sexual appetite and abused cows while waiting patiently for Sethe to choose.

11. Baby Suggs’ repeated opinion about men was that they were what?

A. Nothing but a man
B. Strong protectors
C. A welcome son
D. Good husbands

A. Nothing but a man.
Baby Suggs often said, “A man ain’t nothing but a man,” viewing them as interchangeable pieces in life.

12. Where did Sethe and Halle first have sex?

A. In a barn loft
B. In the cornfield
C. At the creek
D. In their cabin

B. In the cornfield.
Sethe and Halle first coupled in the tiny cornfield, which they believed was hidden from view.

13. The single clear word that Stamp Paid heard clamoring around 124 was what?

A. Sethe
B. Mine
C. Run
D. Ghost

B. Mine.
Stamp Paid heard a noisy “conflagration of hasty voices” around 124, only distinguishing the word “mine”.

14. Paul D kept his painful past sealed away in a metaphorical what?

A. A wooden chest
B. A tobacco tin
C. A broken box
D. A rusty lock

B. A tobacco tin.
Paul D kept his painful memories, including his red heart, metaphorically sealed away in a tobacco tin in his chest.
15. What did the whitegirl Amy Denver say Sethe needed to achieve healing?

A. More time
B. Forgiveness
C. Pain
D. Rest

C. Pain.
Amy told Sethe that nothing heals without pain, claiming “Can’t nothing heal without pain, you know”.

16. What was the name Paul D gave to the particular tree at Sweet Home?

A. Sentinel
B. Sycamore
C. Brother
D. Chokecherry

C. Brother.
Paul D and the other Sweet Home men often chose to sit and eat under a specific tree they named Brother.

17. Denver’s secret refuge in the woods was formed by which plants?

A. Sycamores
B. Boxwood bushes
C. Honeysuckle
D. Post oaks

B. Boxwood bushes.
Denver’s completely secret refuge was a round room created by five boxwood bushes stretching toward each other.

18. Sethe believes that the painful past lingers in the world as what phenomenon?

A. Rememory
B. Bad luck
C. Haint
D. Vexation

A. Rememory.
Sethe defines “rememory” as pictures of the past that float around and remain in the physical place where they happened.

19. What activity did Schoolteacher instruct his pupils to perform concerning Sethe?

A. Counting her feet
B. Measuring her hair
C. Categorizing characteristics
D. Writing a report

C. Categorizing characteristics.
Schoolteacher instructed his nephews to list Sethe’s “human characteristics on the left; her animal ones on the right”.
20. How did Beloved physically arrive at 124’s yard?

A. Walking the road
B. Out of the water
C. On a wagon
D. Through the door

B. Out of the water.
Beloved walked out of the stream/water, sat down, and leaned against a mulberry tree before heading to 124.

21. Paul D was sent to a prison labor camp in which state?

A. Delaware
B. Ohio
C. Kentucky
D. Georgia

D. Georgia.
Paul D was sent to Alfred, Georgia, where he was locked in a box and forced to break rock.

22. What was Halle doing the last time Paul D saw him?

A. Smearing butter
B. Running away
C. Hiding in the barn
D. Singing a song

A. Smearing butter.
Paul D last saw Halle squatting by the churn, smearing butter all over his face and the dabber.

23. What material did Sethe use for the sheer back of her wedding dress?

A. Lace
B. Pillow cases
C. Mosquito netting
D. Linen

C. Mosquito netting.
Sethe stole mosquito netting, normally used for straining jelly, to form the back of her wedding skirt.

24. According to Baby Suggs, what was the only “bad luck” in the world?

A. Sweet Home
B. Sethe’s actions
C. White people
D. Grief

C. White people.
Just before she died, Baby Suggs stated that there was no bad luck in the world except for white people.
25. What single word did Paul D repeatedly whisper during sex with Beloved?

A. Beloved
B. Sweet Home
C. Red heart
D. Sethe

C. Red heart.
When Beloved compelled him to sex, Paul D repeatedly whispered, “Red heart,” exposing his innermost feelings.

26. How did Beloved describe the place she was before coming to 124?

A. Cold and dark
B. Hot and crowded
C. Peaceful and light
D. Wet and muddy

B. Hot and crowded.
Beloved described the place as “Hot. Nothing to breathe down there and no room to move in”.

27. What affliction caused Beloved to vomit and struggle for breath?

A. Fever
B. Strangling on a raisin
C. Cholera
D. Exhaustion

B. Strangling on a raisin.
Beloved fell backward and thrashed around after strangling on a raisin she had picked out of bread pudding.

28. What humiliating control did Beloved exercise over Paul D at 124?

A. Took his money
B. Moving him around
C. Made him tremble
D. Forced him to cook

B. Moving him around.
Paul D felt humiliated because Beloved moved him, preventing him from sleeping where he wished inside the house.

29. What was the destination of Amy Denver?

A. Sweet Home
B. Cincinnati
C. Boston
D. Virginia

C. Boston.
Amy Denver was traveling to Boston in hopes of buying some high-quality, carmine-colored velvet.
30. Sixo laughed while being burned at the stake because of what successful escape?

A. He found Jesus
B. He was free now
C. His woman got away
D. He broke the chain

C. His woman got away.
Sixo laughed and shouted “Seven-O!” because his Thirty-Mile Woman got away with his blossoming seed.

31. Paul D asked Sethe to have a baby in an effort to regain what?

A. His self-respect
B. His freedom
C. His house
D. His manhood

D. His manhood.
Paul D suddenly asked Sethe to get pregnant as a solution to document his manhood and break Beloved’s spell.

32. Beloved told Denver that her name “in the dark” was what?

A. Sister
B. The baby
C. Beloved
D. My face

C. Beloved.
Beloved told Denver, after they were dancing, “In the dark, my name is Beloved”.

33. Sethe’s justification for her terrible act was that her children were safe from whom?

A. Paul D
B. The ghost
C. Schoolteacher
D. Baby Suggs

C. Schoolteacher.
Sethe believed her children were safe because “Schoolteacher ain’t got em,” defending her choice.

34. Baby Suggs was able to keep Halle the longest of her eight children, for how long?

A. Six years
B. Twenty years
C. Ten years
D. A lifetime

B. Twenty years.
Baby Suggs was able to keep Halle for twenty whole years, calling it a lifetime.
35. Beloved’s arrival skin was described as what?

A. Mud-caked
B. Flawless and new
C. Bitten and scarred
D. Pale and sickly

B. Flawless and new.
When Beloved sat on the stump, her skin was noted as lineless, smooth, and new, including her knuckles.

36. Sethe’s mother was identifiable by what specific burn mark on her rib?

A. Worn hip
B. Circle and cross
C. Chokecherry tree
D. Tiny scar

B. Circle and cross.
Sethe’s mother showed her a mark burnt right in the skin: a circle and a cross on her rib.

37. Sethe’s first mother died by what means?

A. Hanged
B. Drowned
C. Burned
D. Natural causes

A. Hanged.
Sethe was told her mother was “Hung” and looked at the site after she was cut down.

38. What scent was associated with the Cincinnati carnival?

A. Wood smoke
B. Old roses
C. Chamomile
D. Wet earth

B. Old roses.
The strong scent of dying old roses near the lumberyard was tied to the stench of the carnival.

39. According to Sethe, the ghost’s initial activities included turned-over slop jars and what?

A. Loud wailing
B. Smacks on the behind
C. Moving furniture
D. Breaking dishes

B. Smacks on the behind.
Sethe and Denver waged battle against the house’s persecution, including smacks on the behind and gusts of sour air.
40. Denver thought she had lost Beloved in the cold house, leading her to realize she lacked what?

A. Her identity
B. Her safety
C. Her mother
D. Her sense

A. Her identity.
Denver was terrified because she felt she had “no self,” believing her existence depended on Beloved.

41. When Denver returned the food parcels left for her, what was the only thing she said?

A. Thank you
B. God bless
C. Goodbye
D. I’m sorry

A. Thank you.
Denver, initially too timid to ask for help, would simply return the baskets, saying only “Thank you”.

42. How long was Sethe’s life of “unslaved life” at 124 before the tragedy?

A. One week
B. Twenty-eight days
C. Six months
D. One year

B. Twenty-eight days.
Sethe had twenty-eight days of healing, ease, and real-talk—the travel of one whole moon—of unslaved life.

43. What unusual event occurred to Beloved at the kitchen table?

A. She cut her lip
B. Lost a back tooth
C. Burned her hand
D. Fell into a fit

B. Lost a back tooth.
Beloved pulled out a small, odd fragment of a back tooth with her fingers, which made her cry.

44. Stamp Paid renamed himself Joshua after his wife, Vashti, insisted he stay alive for what reason?

A. So she could return
B. To get his revenge
C. To buy her freedom
D. To find their children

A. So she could return.
Vashti demanded he stay alive so she would have someone to return to after the young master was through with her.
45. Beloved claimed Sethe left her behind to search for what specific feature Sethe had?

A. Her dress
B. Her hands
C. Her earrings
D. Her smile

C. Her earrings.
Beloved claimed she saw Sethe’s diamonds/earrings in the water and believed Sethe had abandoned her.

46. Sethe realized Beloved’s face carried faint marks from what act of Sethe’s?

A. Her whip scars
B. Fingernail prints
C. Her milk theft
D. The water break

B. Fingernail prints.
Sethe realizes the scratches on Beloved’s forehead must be the marks her own fingernails left, holding the baby’s head.

47. What did Schoolteacher use to write in his book at night?

A. Pencil
B. Sethe’s ink
C. Charcoal
D. Blood

B. Sethe’s ink.
The schoolteacher sat down nightly to write in his book using ink that Sethe herself had mixed.

48. What item was tied to the red ribbon Stamp Paid found near the river?

A. A small bone
B. Wet, woolly hair
C. A slave collar
D. A velvet scrap

B. Wet, woolly hair.
Stamp Paid found the red ribbon knotted around a curl of wet, woolly hair and a bit of scalp.

49. How did Paul D criticize Sethe’s powerful, self-sacrificing love?

A. It was weak
B. It was wrong
C. It was too thick
D. It was foolish

C. It was too thick.
Paul D told Sethe, “Your love is too thick,” which drove a wedge between them because she disagreed.
50. What does Paul D ultimately tell Sethe she is, urging her to find hope?

A. His future
B. A dear friend
C. Your best thing
D. Worth everything

C. Your best thing.
Paul D tells Sethe she is “your best thing,” insisting they need to work toward a future together.

Brief Overview

Beloved is a novel by Toni Morrison, first published in 1987. It is a powerful work of psychological realism and a ghost story. It centers on the enduring and destructive legacy of slavery, focusing on themes of memory, trauma, and motherhood.

The story is set in 1873 at a house called 124 in Ohio. Sethe and her daughter, Denver, live there, but the house is filled with anger from a spiteful baby’s ghost. Sethe’s sons ran away from the house’s lively spite when they were boys, after acts like scattering crackers and tipping over slop jars.

Paul D, a man Sethe knew from her enslaved past at Sweet Home in Kentucky, arrives. Paul D successfully drives out the angry baby ghost. He and Sethe become close, sharing a bed and making plans for a life together.

A strange young woman named Beloved soon appears, wet and sick, but wearing new shoes. Sethe believes Beloved is the ghost of the daughter she killed years before, now returned to her. Sethe had murdered her baby to keep her safe from the brutal system of slavery.

Beloved is hungry for Sethe’s complete devotion and attention. Sethe gives Beloved everything she asks for, and Beloved grows big while Sethe becomes weak and smaller. Denver, who felt terribly lonely, leaves the house for the first time to ask for help from the community.

A group of women comes to the house to help Sethe. When a white man, Mr. Bodwin, approaches, Sethe sees him as a threat, thinking he is coming for her “best thing.”

Sethe tries to stab him with an ice pick, believing he is trying to take her children. Beloved disappears during the chaos. Paul D returns to Sethe and promises to take care of her.

Related Posts

Leave a comment