The Freedom Artist MCQs

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Author: Nasir Iqbal | Assistant Professor of English Literature

The Freedom Artist MCQs
Updated on: November 6, 2025
Estimated Reading Time: 17 min

The Freedom Artist MCQs

1. What was the name of the boy reading to the old man in the yellow house?

A. Karnak
B. Jim
C. Mirababa
D. Lao

C. Mirababa.
The boy reading to the old man was named Mirababa, establishing their spiritual bond.

2. What did the old man’s silence teach Mirababa about questions?

A. They must never be asked.
B. They are answered by silence’s subtleties.
C. They require deep thought.
D. They led ancestors to freedom.

B. They are answered by silence’s subtleties.
Mirababa learned questions were answered not directly, but by the subtleties within silence.

3. What must one do to go “beyond,” according to the old man?

A. Climb a ladder
B. Go in
C. Follow the giants
D. Escape the universe

B. Go in.
The old man said the only way to go beyond the existing world is to “go in.”
4. What did the old man say going home ultimately meant?

A. Going up
B. Going in
C. Following the map
D. Breaking the law

B. Going in.
The old man stated plainly that “Going home is going in,” meaning the true destination is the inner self.

5. What did the old man claim the world was a succession of?

A. Gardens
B. Adventures
C. Prisons
D. Dreams

C. Prisons.
He warned Mirababa that this world is a succession of prisons, requiring inner liberation.

6. What did the old man bequeath to Mirababa, to be read when ready?

A. The golden key
B. A particular manuscript
C. A magic wand
D. His earthly possessions

B. A particular manuscript.
He bequeathed a manuscript titled *The Legend of the Prison*, a valuable spiritual gift.

7. What happened to the old man’s body at his funeral?

A. It was buried.
B. It was transmuted into golden ash.
C. It was burned with fire.
D. It vanished.

B. It was transmuted into golden ash.
The body was “transmuted into the golden ash of his final estate,” a mystical passing.
8. What did Amalantis feel when people praised her beauty?

A. Pride
B. Increased mystery
C. Strange emptiness
D. Deepening joy

C. Strange emptiness.
The more people praised her beauty, the emptier she felt, believing she was a fraud.

9. What question became the beginning of Amalantis’s troubles?

A. What is freedom?
B. Who is behind that mask?
C. Is Karnak true?
D. Where is the ladder?

B. Who is behind that mask?.
Staring in a mirror, she wondered: “Who is behind that mask that everyone thinks is me?”

10. What question did Amalantis ask Karnak that startled him?

A. Why are you ill?
B. Do you love me?
C. Who do you think the prisoner is?
D. Where is your job?

C. Who do you think the prisoner is?.
She startled him by asking, “Like… who do you think the prisoner is?”, using a forbidden word.

11. What happened immediately after Amalantis asked about the prisoner?

A. Karnak laughed.
B. They were arrested.
C. Karnak shut the door quickly.
D. She left the house.

C. Karnak shut the door quickly.
Karnak was terrified and immediately shut the door to prevent others from hearing.
12. How were the men who arrested Amalantis dressed?

A. Black suits and ties
B. Identical grey suits and ties
C. Police uniforms
D. Worker’s overalls

B. Identical grey suits and ties.
Three men appeared, dressed identically in grey suits and ties, suggesting Hierarchy authority.

13. What words quickly vanished from public life after the arrests?

A. Law, order, peace
B. Work, family, sleep
C. Hope, rights, truth
D. Money, love, beauty

C. Hope, rights, truth.
Words like ‘hope’, ‘rights’, and ‘truth’ became suspicious and vanished from public life.

14. What question kept appearing on square bits of paper across the land?

A. WHO IS THE WATCHER?
B. ARE YOU ASLEEP?
C. WHO IS THE PRISONER?
D. FIND THE ELIXIR.

C. WHO IS THE PRISONER?.
The forbidden question “WHO IS THE PRISONER?” kept appearing, a sign of rebellion.

15. What distinguished the “normal” people (the majority) regarding sleep?

A. They never slept.
B. They screamed and howled at night.
C. They had pure silence in their heads.
D. They dreamed only of freedom.

B. They screamed and howled at night.
The “normal” people shouted and howled like frightened animals in their sleep.
16. What sound did the “second kind of people” (the few) hear in their heads?

A. A steady, unchanging drone
B. An inexplicable cry
C. A pure silence
D. Confused choruses

C. A pure silence.
Unlike the majority, these alert people heard a pure silence or a mild fragrance of melody.

17. What did Amalantis say was beautiful about the old woman in the doorway?

A. Her weeping
B. Her sadness and loss
C. Her quiet demeanor
D. Her lack of fear

B. Her sadness and loss.
Amalantis called the weeping woman “one of the most beautiful people I know” due to her authentic pain.

18. What was Amalantis’s initial reply regarding the old woman she helped?

A. She needs money.
B. She wants to die.
C. She is too beautiful.
D. She needs a doctor.

B. She wants to die.
Amalantis replied plainly that the old woman “just wants to die,” showing her despair.

19. What happened to Karnak when he woke up near the house after Amalantis’s arrest?

A. He found it was already dark.
B. He felt refreshed.
C. He was still waiting.
D. He saw the police leaving.

A. He found it was already dark.
Waking from a stupor, he realized with amazement that it was already dark outside.
20. What happened to the screams as Karnak ran toward the common field?

A. They intensified greatly.
B. They flew at him from several directions.
C. They became more distant.
D. They stopped completely.

C. They became more distant.
As Karnak ran into the common field, the screams and howls became more distant.

21. What fragrance did Karnak become aware of as he followed figures into the field?

A. Honeysuckle
B. Jasmine
C. Roses
D. Woodsmoke

C. Roses.
Following the figures, Karnak became aware of the tender, mysterious fragrance of roses.

22. Where did Karnak see the forbidden question freshly painted in red and white?

A. On the bare wall
B. Stencilled on the road beneath his feet
C. On billboards
D. All of the above

D. All of the above.
He saw “WHO IS THE PRISONER?” painted on walls and stencilled on the road.

23. What was Karnak doing when the men were arrested for not screaming?

A. Sleeping soundly
B. Pretending to scream
C. Wailing uncontrollably
D. Watching television

C. Wailing uncontrollably.
Karnak was so terrified of the howls that he began to wail involuntarily at the top of his voice.
24. What did Karnak unexpectedly realize he had been made to believe?

A. That the world was flawed
B. That his love was hopeless
C. That the world was the best way it could be
D. That he was dreaming

C. That the world was the best way it could be.
He realized he’d been trained to believe the world was functioning in the best possible way.

25. What did Karnak never expect would happen that confused him?

A. Amalantis would leave him.
B. He would have to ask questions.
C. He would scream at night.
D. The police would find him.

B. He would have to ask questions.
He never expected to ask questions, having accepted that certain thoughts were forbidden.

26. What was the central theme of the rewritten myth of the Emperor’s new clothes?

A. The boy was praised for his honesty.
B. The boy was praised for noticing the beauty of the clothes.
C. The Emperor was jailed.
D. The clothes were real.

B. The boy was praised for noticing the beauty of the clothes.
The myth was altered so the boy praised the beauty of the non-existent garments.

27. What was the highest distinction a citizen could hope for, according to the new myths?

A. To be wealthy
B. To be beautiful
C. To be like everyone else
D. To be original

C. To be like everyone else.
The new myths promoted being “like everyone else” as the highest distinction.
28. What word appeared mysteriously in the world that implied its opposite?

A. PRISON
B. TRUTH
C. UPWAKE!
D. LOVE

C. UPWAKE!.
“UPWAKE!” appeared mysteriously, implying that people were spiritually asleep.

29. What discovery did the philosopher make about the original myth of the prison?

A. It was all true.
B. It had a flaw.
C. It predicted the future.
D. It was invented by the Hierarchy.

B. It had a flaw.
The philosopher found a flaw in the original myth of the prison, an opening to liberation.

30. What did the philosopher suggest the conscious mind had that the subconscious did not?

A. Dreams
B. Mythology
C. Limitations
D. Power

C. Limitations.
He noted the conscious mind has limitations, while the subconscious mind has none.

31. What did Karnak conclude after being thrown out of the first art exhibition?

A. The artists were dangerous.
B. They could not help him find clues.
C. He was not trained to look at art.
D. They were all spies.

B. They could not help him find clues.
After being assaulted, Karnak decided that artist could not throw light on anything for him.
32. What dangerous activity did the grey-haired gentleman regret not doing in his youth?

A. Taking drugs
B. Thinking for himself
C. Climbing Everest
D. Driving too fast

B. Thinking for himself.
The man regretted not doing “really dangerous things, like thinking for himself.”

33. What did the famous artist claim was the new value he had created?

A. Fame
B. Beauty
C. Money
D. Chaos

C. Money.
The artist proclaimed himself the “first artist of money,” creating it as a new value.

34. What two people were found asleep in the artist’s hall?

A. Karnak and the butler
B. The grey-haired man and the woman
C. The artist and the butler
D. Karnak and the artist

B. The grey-haired man and the woman.
Karnak noticed the grey-haired gentleman and the beautiful woman were fast asleep.

35. What question suddenly made Mirababa feel an unsuspected world opening within him?

A. Who is the prisoner?
B. What is freedom?
C. Who am I?
D. Where is the ladder?

C. Who am I?.
Mirababa suddenly asked, “Who am I?”, feeling himself expanding inward with the question.
36. What did Karnak realize about the majority of people he observed while walking?

A. They were secretly rebellious.
B. They were fast asleep.
C. They were all spies.
D. They were weeping silently.

B. They were fast asleep.
He was shocked to realize doctors, judges, and drivers were all fast asleep while working.

37. Why did people stop reading books, according to the girl in the bookshop?

A. They were too expensive.
B. Books were made simpler to eliminate effort.
C. They preferred television.
D. The libraries burned down.

B. Books were made simpler to eliminate effort.
The girl explained reading was lost because people sought easier ways, eliminating effort.

38. What did Ruslana, the girl in the bookshop, pull out when Karnak asked questions?

A. A club
B. A gun
C. A knife
D. A book

C. A knife.
When Karnak kept asking questions, Ruslana became fierce and held a knife to his heart.

39. What traumatic memory did Amalantis’s storytelling often cause to fall in the room?

A. A book
B. A vase
C. An object
D. A picture

C. An object.
Every time Amalantis spoke of the world’s troubles, an object would fall in the room.
40. What did the skeletal figures in the dazzling room write with?

A. Pencils
B. Typewriters
C. Quills and gold ink
D. Secret paint

C. Quills and gold ink.
The three skeletal writers used quills dipped into inkwells of gold, preserving true memory.

41. What was the purpose of the writers’ endless work?

A. To capture what technology cannot feel
B. To record every moment of life
C. To rewrite lost myths
D. All of the above

D. All of the above.
They recorded dreams and deaths, captured what technology couldn’t feel, and rewrote myths.

42. What sight in the hospital ward astonished Karnak about the dying?

A. They were praying.
B. They were happy and laughing.
C. They were sleeping peacefully.
D. They were waiting patiently.

B. They were happy and laughing.
Karnak was shocked to find the terminally sick and dying engaged in merriment and laughter.

43. What forbidden words did Karnak see scrawled across the ward walls?

A. QUESTION! and UPWAKE!
B. ESCAPE! and HELL
C. LIES! and WHO IS THE PRISONER?
D. All of the above

D. All of the above.
The walls were plastered with forbidden signs like UPWAKE!, QUESTION!, and WHO IS THE PRISONER?.
44. What did the flower-seller woman reveal about her job?

A. She was a butcher.
B. She was really working for the dead.
C. She was a police informant.
D. She was a carpenter.

B. She was really working for the dead.
She sold flowers meant only for the dead, revealing her grim reality.

45. What did Ruslana’s father say was the goal of his work?

A. To achieve fame
B. To help bring about the end of the world
C. To find Amalantis
D. To write a perfect book

B. To help bring about the end of the world.
He told Ruslana they had to help bring about the end of the world for a new beginning.

46. What did the final image of the arrested boy-warrior show him doing?

A. Escaping with a sword
B. Submitting to arrest calmly
C. Attacking the police
D. Vanishing into light

B. Submitting to arrest calmly.
The boy-warrior did not attempt to resist, submitting calmly to the authorities.

47. What did the crowds realize about the Hierarchy members who fell from the tower?

A. They were devils.
B. They were people they knew and recognized.
C. They were all children.
D. They were immortal.

B. They were people they knew and recognized.
The crowd realized the dead Hierarchy members were people just like them.
48. What final question did the philosopher ask the authorities, which went unanswered?

A. Who is the prisoner?
B. Why is the world flawed?
C. Is the sun real?
D. What is the meaning of life?

A. Who is the prisoner?.
The philosopher asked the authorities the forbidden question: WHO IS THE PRISONER?.

49. What did Mirababa realize was the source of Amalantis’s beauty?

A. Her clothes
B. Her despair, loss, and purity
C. Her love for Karnak
D. Her intellectual power

B. Her despair, loss, and purity.
Mirababa realized her profound beauty came from her deep despair, loss, and purity.

50. What final object did Mirababa and the Bards walk toward on the common field?

A. The tower of the Hierarchy
B. The house where the old man died
C. The invisible ladder to freedom
D. The sleeping giant

C. The invisible ladder to freedom.
They walked toward the invisible ladder to freedom, symbolizing their next spiritual step.

Brief Overview

The Freedom Artist is a novel by Ben Okri, first published in 2019. It is a highly allegorical and dystopian novel. The narrative details a society that is secretly a prison, following the parallel quests of two main characters, Mirababa and Karnak.

The Hierarchy, a powerful, unseen force, strictly controls the world. This authority enforces obedience by altering ancient myths and promoting extreme conformity. Citizens are led to believe that being normal is the highest achievement.

Mirababa is a boy initiated by old bards. His grandfather instructs him to find the elixir of freedom by looking inward to transcend the world’s prison. Mirababa experiences visions of the true world and travels through stellar realms, undergoing a spiritual transformation.

Karnak is a young man whose lover, Amalantis, is arrested for questioning their prison-like reality. Karnak starts a quest to find Amalantis and uncover the truth. He meets Ruslana, who is part of an underground movement that fights the Hierarchy using cryptic signs and words like WHO IS THE PRISONER? and UPWAKE!.

Citizens suffer from anxiety and widespread night screaming. Authorities use the Sleep Police to maintain control. Eventually, the populace, led by Ruslana, rebels against the Hierarchy, confronting the physical symbol of their oppression. Mirababa, now a boy-warrior, emerges from the structure, having realized the prison was the world itself. Amalantis is also freed. The novel ends with the hope of a new beginning.

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