Go Down, Moses MCQs

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Author: Nasir Iqbal | Assistant Professor of English Literature


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

Go Down, Moses MCQs

1. On whose charity does Isaac McCaslin (‘Uncle Ike’) primarily live in Jefferson?

A. McCaslin Edmonds
B. Uncle Buddy
C. Major de Spain
D. Roth Edmonds

D. Roth Edmonds.
Isaac McCaslin lives in town, supported by the money (charity) that Roth Edmonds, his great-nephew, chooses to give him.

2. What nickname did Isaac McCaslin typically go by?

A. Uncle Ike
B. Old Man
C. Lost Soul
D. The Widower

A. Uncle Ike.
Isaac McCaslin is introduced as ‘Uncle Ike’, nearing eighty, a widower, and an uncle to many people.

3. What item did Isaac McCaslin own that was larger than what he could carry in his pockets?

A. Iron cot
B. Wooden chair
C. Hunting rifle
D. Small tent

A. Iron cot.
Isaac owned only a narrow iron cot and a stained mattress, used for camping, besides the things he wore.

4. Who was running away, forcing Uncle Buck and Cass to chase him?

A. Tomey’s Turl
B. Miss Sophonsiba
C. Uncle Buddy
D. Mr Hubert

A. Tomey’s Turl.
Tomey’s Turl, a slave belonging to the McCaslin twins, had “broke out again” and needed to be retrieved.
5. Where did Tomey’s Turl habitually run away to?

A. Mr Hubert Beauchamp’s
B. Jefferson County
C. The Big Bottom
D. The river crossing

A. Mr Hubert Beauchamp’s.
Tomey’s Turl always headed to Mr. Hubert Beauchamp’s place to see Tennie, Mr. Hubert’s girl.

6. What did Uncle Buck wear only when chasing Tomey’s Turl?

A. A necktie
B. New boots
C. Silver watch
D. Red sash

A. A necktie.
Uncle Buck only wore a necktie “on Tomey’s Turl’s account,” suggesting it was reserved for these excursions.

7. Who was Uncle Buck risking marrying if he missed Tomey’s Turl by midnight?

A. Miss Sophonsiba
B. Tennie Beauchamp
C. Molly Worsham
D. Nat Beauchamp

A. Miss Sophonsiba.
Uncle Buck and Mr. Hubert made a five-hundred-dollar bet on capturing Turl, with Miss Sophonsiba as the stake.

8. What item did Miss Sophonsiba send to Uncle Buck for “success”?

A. Red ribbon
B. Gold coin
C. Piece cake
D. Whiskey bottle

A. Red ribbon.
Miss Sophonsiba sent a piece of the red ribbon she wore around her throat to Uncle Buck, wishing him “success”.

9. What type of animal did Uncle Buck and Cass use to finally track Tomey’s Turl?

A. Little fyce
B. Walker’s dogs
C. Hunting mule
D. Old bloodhound

A. Little fyce.
After the bigger dogs failed, Uncle Buck chose to rely on the “little bob-tailed black fyce” to trail Tomey’s Turl.
10. What did Tomey’s Turl do when Uncle Buck finally confronted him?

A. Ran clean over him
B. Surrendered fast
C. Shot Uncle Buck
D. Cried for forgiveness

A. Ran clean over him.
Tomey’s Turl ran right over Uncle Buck, knocking him down and snatching him up under one arm.

11. Who decided the outcome of Uncle Buck’s marriage/debt situation?

A. Uncle Buddy
B. Isaac McCaslin
C. Miss Sophonsiba
D. Tomey’s Turl

A. Uncle Buddy.
Uncle Buddy played a final, low-hand-wins poker game against Mr. Hubert to decide Uncle Buck’s fate.

12. What did Uncle Buddy risk to free Uncle Buck from marrying Miss Sophonsiba?

A. Losing his land
B. Buying Tennie
C. Gambling Cass
D. His own freedom

B. Buying Tennie.
The poker stakes were Uncle Buck against Miss Sophonsiba, and the winner of Sibbey also had to buy Tennie.

13. What was the outcome of the final poker game (low hand wins)?

A. Uncle Buddy passed
B. Mr Hubert won
C. Uncle Buck won
D. Tomey’s Turl dealt

A. Uncle Buddy passed.
After realizing Tomey’s Turl might have cheated for him, Mr. Hubert pushed his cards forward and said, “I pass, Amodeus”.

14. Why did Lucas Beauchamp need to hide his still?

A. George Wilkins
B. Sheriff coming
C. Roth Edmonds
D. Wife’s illness

A. George Wilkins.
Lucas had to hide his still because George Wilkins intended to move onto the land and set up competition.
15. How old was Lucas Beauchamp?

A. Sixty-seven
B. Forty-three
C. Seventy-five
D. Thirty-six

A. Sixty-seven.
Lucas stated he was sixty-seven years old, noting he already had more money than Edmonds.

16. Where did Lucas hide his still parts?

A. Indian mound
B. Creek bottom
C. Old chimney
D. Log house

A. Indian mound.
Lucas chose a “squat, flat-topped, almost symmetrical mound” which white people called an Indian mound.

17. What valuable item did Lucas find when burying his still?

A. A single coin
B. Buried tools
C. Copper kettle
D. Broken jar

A. A single coin.
As the earth collapsed, Lucas found a fragment of an earthenware vessel containing a single gold coin.

18. Who was watching Lucas hide the still?

A. His daughter
B. Roth Edmonds
C. George Wilkins
D. The old earth

A. His daughter.
Lucas found the print of his daughter Nat’s naked feet, realizing she had been squatting nearby watching him.

19. How long had Molly been staying in Edmonds’ house?

A. Half a year
B. One week
C. Two years
D. Six months

A. Half a year.
Molly was gone for “almost half a year” before Lucas confronted Edmonds and demanded her return.
20. What weapon did Lucas confront Edmonds with at dawn?

A. Naked razor
B. Loaded gun
C. Pickaxe handle
D. Kitchen knife

A. Naked razor.
Lucas entered Edmonds’ bedroom and stood over him, ready to kill him with the open, naked razor.

21. What prevented Lucas from killing Edmonds with the pistol?

A. Miss-fire
B. Molly crying
C. Edmonds fled
D. Lucas hesitated

A. Miss-fire.
Lucas pulled the trigger while wrestling with Edmonds, but he heard “the light, dry, incredibly loud click of the miss-fire”.

22. What did George and Nat do with Lucas’s still?

A. Put it back door
B. Hid it deeper
C. Melted it down
D. Sold the copper

A. Put it back door.
George and Nat moved Lucas’s still and whisky to his back porch to coerce Lucas into letting them marry.

23. Why did Nat refuse to live with George initially?

A. No new porch
B. House too small
C. Not enough money
D. George lazy

A. No new porch.
Nat demanded a new back porch, a cook-stove, and a well before she would live in George’s house.

24. What item did Lucas swap for the buried money divining machine?

A. A mule
B. Gold coin
C. Whiskey bottle
D. Cotton crop

A. A mule.
Lucas convinced the salesman to swap the divining machine for his three-year-old mare mule, Alice Ben Bolt.
25. Why did Molly Beauchamp want a divorce from Lucas?

A. He was cràzy
B. He was cheating
C. He drank whiskey
D. He hit her

A. He was cràzy.
Molly told Edmonds she needed to leave Lucas because he had “gone cràzy” since acquiring the machine.

26. What was Lucas carrying when he came up the bank after the divorce failure?

A. Candy sack
B. Money pouch
C. Still machine
D. Old Bible

A. Candy sack.
After withdrawing the divorce, Lucas bought a small sack of candy for Molly because she had no teeth left.

27. What was Lucas’s final instruction regarding the divining machine?

A. Sell it far away
B. Keep it hidden
C. Give it to George
D. Destroy it

A. Sell it far away.
Lucas insisted that Edmonds “Get rid of it,” selling it “a far piece away” so he would never see it again.

28. How did Sam Fathers formally initiate the 12-year-old boy (Isaac)?

A. Blood-marked face
B. Gave him a knife
C. Taught him rules
D. Showed him tracks

A. Blood-marked face.
Sam Fathers dipped his hands in the buck’s hot blood and smeared them across the boy’s face.

29. What type of heritage did Sam Fathers possess?

A. Chickasaw and Negro
B. Cherokee and White
C. Seminole and Negro
D. Choctaw and White

A. Chickasaw and Negro.
Sam Fathers was sired on both sides by sàvage kings (Chickasaw chief Ikkemotubbe) but had become a negro by race.
30. Who was Sam Fathers’ father?

A. Ikkemotubbe
B. Tomey’s Turl
C. Carothers McCaslin
D. Moketubbe

A. Ikkemotubbe.
Sam’s father was Ikkemotubbe, the Chickasaw chief who later named himself Doom.

31. What did McCaslin Edmonds say was the mark of servitude in Sam Fathers’ eyes?

A. Bondage knowledge
B. Quiet endurance
C. Wild spirit
D. Chief lineage

A. Bondage knowledge.
McCaslin said the look in Sam’s eyes showed “the knowledge that for a while that part of his blood had been the blood of slaves”.

32. What was the identifying physical characteristic of the legendary bear, Old Ben?

A. Crooked foot
B. Red eyes
C. Great size
D. Indomitable spirit

A. Crooked foot.
Old Ben was known by his “one trap-ruined foot,” leaving a crooked print easily recognizable in the woods.

33. What did the boy have to relinquish to see Old Ben?

A. Gun and tools
B. Money belt
C. Food and water
D. His shoes

A. Gun and tools.
Isaac first left the gun, and later the watch and compass, choosing humility over reliance on civilization’s tools.

34. What type of dog was Lion?

A. Masti cross
B. Small fyce
C. Walker hound
D. Airedale mix

A. Masti cross.
Lion was a mix, part mastiff, with cold yellow eyes, a tremendous chest, and coloring like a blued gun-barrel.
35. How did Sam Fathers capture Lion?

A. Deadfall trap
B. Chased him down
C. Shot him
D. Starved him

A. Deadfall trap.
Sam captured Lion by building a deadfall trap in his corn crib, baiting it with the colt’s carcass.

36. Who became obsessively devoted to Lion?

A. Boon Hogganbeck
B. Walter Ewell
C. Major de Spain
D. Tennie’s Jim

A. Boon Hogganbeck.
Boon Hogganbeck became deeply attached to Lion, feeding him and sleeping with him in the camp cabin.

37. What animal did Old Ben kill that violated the unspoken rules of the hunt?

A. A colt
B. A milk cow
C. A young buck
D. A small fyce

A. A colt.
Old Ben killed Major de Spain’s mare colt, which was considered a violation of the established hunting rules.

38. What happened to Sam Fathers immediately after Old Ben was killed?

A. He collapsed
B. He was shot
C. He walked away
D. He screamed

A. He collapsed.
Sam Fathers was found lying motionless on his face in the mud, having collapsed after the bear was slain.

39. Who delivered the fatal wound to Old Ben?

A. Boon Hogganbeck
B. Lion the dog
C. Walter Ewell
D. General Compson

A. Boon Hogganbeck.
Boon, after missing his shots, killed the bear by using his knife, finding the single slit under the bear’s shoulder.
40. Who gave Isaac McCaslin the silver-mounted horn?

A. General Compson
B. Major de Spain
C. Uncle Buck
D. Sam Fathers

A. General Compson.
Isaac inherited the silver-mounted horn (and the compass) from General Compson upon his death.

41. What action did Isaac take regarding his inheritance at age 21?

A. Repudiated land
B. Built a house
C. Started bank
D. Bought mules

A. Repudiated land.
At twenty-one, Isaac repudiated the McCaslin land, believing it was cursed due to ancestral injustice and slavery.

42. What financial legacy did old Carothers leave his Negro son?

A. One thousand dollars
B. All his land
C. A new house
D. His freedom

A. One thousand dollars.
Old Carothers McCaslin provided a legacy of one thousand dollars to Tomey’s Turl, his son by a slave woman.

43. What skill did Isaac McCaslin use to earn a living after repudiation?

A. Carpentry
B. Farming
C. Teaching
D. Law

A. Carpentry.
Isaac became a carpenter, believing that manual labor was a clean way to earn a living.

44. What was Boon Hogganbeck doing when Isaac found him at the Gum Tree?

A. Fixing his gun
B. Hunting squirrels
C. Hiding the bear
D. Drinking whisky

A. Fixing his gun.
Boon was hysterically hammering his gun barrel against the breech, surrounded by disassembled parts and panicked squirrels.
45. What land was Isaac McCaslin describing as being “denuded and derivered” in Delta Autumn?

A. This Delta
B. The Big Bottom
C. The Holy Land
D. The mountains

A. This Delta.
Isaac described the Delta as land that man had ruined in two generations to create plantations and wealth.

46. Who was the mother of Roth Edmonds’ child in Delta Autumn?

A. Black woman
B. White cousin
C. Tenant’s daughter
D. Nat Beauchamp

A. Black woman.
Isaac realized, with shock and outrage, that the young woman who came to the camp was Black.

47. What was the young woman’s famous enslaved ancestor (Roth’s mistress)?

A. Tennie’s Jim
B. Tomey’s Turl
C. Eunice
D. Percival Brownlee

A. Tennie’s Jim.
The woman revealed that her grandfather was James Beauchamp, whom Isaac knew as Tennie’s Jim.

48. What did the woman say she would have made of Roth Edmonds?

A. A man
B. A husband
C. A better hunter
D. A McCaslin

A. A man.
She stated that Roth was “not a man yet” and that she “would have made a man of him,” implying he was immature.

49. What was Rider’s profession?

A. Sawmilling
B. Farming
C. Carpenter
D. Blacksmith

A. Sawmilling.
Rider worked at the sawmill, heading the timber gang that moved logs between sunup and sundown.
50. What name did Mollie Beauchamp use to describe the entity that took her grandson?

A. Pharaoh
B. Edmonds
C. The Law
D. Chicago

A. Pharaoh.
Mollie grieved that “Roth Edmonds sold my Benjamin. Sold him in Egypt. Pharaoh got him,” referring to his execution.

Brief Overview

Go Down, Moses is a novel by William Faulkner, first published on May 11, 1942. It is a collection of seven linked stories centered on the multi-generational McCaslin family in Mississippi. The work addresses themes of slavery, racial injustice, and the human relationship to the wilderness.

The central figure is Isaac McCaslin, known as “Uncle Ike.” As an old white man, he famously gave up the land he was supposed to inherit. He believed the land was permanently cursed due to the history of slavery and injustice attached to its ownership.

When Isaac was a boy, he was taught to hunt by an old man named Sam Fathers. Sam was the son of a Chickasaw chief and a slave. Isaac gained a deep sense of courage and honor while tracking the famous, almost mythical bear, Old Ben, in the wilderness.

Other sections of the novel focus on the Black descendants of the McCaslin family. Lucas Beauchamp, a proud old man obsessed with treasure, searched for buried gold using a machine. This obsession made his wife, Molly, very unhappy. Lucas ultimately stopped the hunt and gave up the machine only to save his marriage.

An earlier, humorous tale recounts the story of a slave named Tomey’s Turl. Turl often ran away to see his girl, Tennie. Turl’s masters, Uncle Buck and Uncle Buddy, chased him. This ended with Uncle Buck accidentally locked in Miss Sophonsiba’s bedroom. A game of poker was used to decide if Uncle Buck would marry her.

Finally, Molly Beauchamp’s grandson, Samuel Worsham Beauchamp (Butch), committed murder in the North. He was eventually executed. White townsmen helped bring his body home to be buried in the local cemetery, showing a complex, final act of community recognition.

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