The General in His Labyrinth 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

The General in His Labyrinth MCQs
Updated on: November 3, 2025
Estimated Reading Time: 17 min

The General in His Labyrinth MCQs

1. What servant found the General floating naked in his bath?

A. Colonel Wilson
B. José Palacios
C. General Montilla
D. Fernando

B. José Palacios.
José Palacios, the General’s oldest and most trusted servant, found him floating naked in the purifying medicinal waters.

2. On what date did the General plan to leave Santa Fe de Bogotá?

A. July 24, 1829
B. May 8, 1830
C. September 25, 1828
D. June 16, 1830

B. May 8, 1830.
The steward, José Palacios, announced the date as Saturday, May 8, 1830, the day of departure.

3. How old was the General in July of the previous year?

A. Fifty-one
B. Forty-seven
C. Forty-six
D. Thirty-two

C. Forty-six.
The General had turned forty-six this past July, though his wasted body made him appear significantly older.

4. What did the General use to polish his perfect teeth?

A. Silver paste
B. Charcoal powder
C. Toothbrush
D. White sediment

B. Charcoal powder.
He polished his perfect teeth using charcoal powder applied to a silver-handled silk brush as part of his ablutions.
5. Who was tasked with keeping the General informed of events in his absence?

A. Úrsula Iguarán
B. José Palacios
C. Manuela Saenz
D. General Urdaneta

C. Manuela Saenz.
The General trusted Manuela Saenz to remain behind and keep him fully informed of everything that occurred.

6. What book was Manuela Saenz reading to the General the night before he left?

A. Rousseau’s Emile
B. Lima News and Gossip
C. The Art of War
D. Social Contract

B. Lima News and Gossip.
She read a book by Peruvian Noe Calzadillas titled A Reading of News and Gossip Circulating in Lima.

7. What caused the General’s intense attack of coughing the night before departure?

A. The icy winds
B. Graveyard flowers
C. Lima’s gossip
D. Chronic fever

B. Graveyard flowers.
The General, seeking a cause for his misfortunes, blamed the withered spikenards, or “graveyard flowers”.

8. What was the most significant flaw noted about the General’s intended departure?

A. Lack of gold
B. No destination
C. Lack of a passport
D. Too many aides

C. Lack of a passport.
As a former President, he could not leave the country within a year without government permission, which he had not requested.

9. After the failed assassination attempt, how long did the General spend hiding under a bridge?

A. Six days
B. Six hours
C. Two days
D. One night

B. Six hours.
Following the attack on September 25, he spent six hours under a bridge until loyal troops quelled the uprising.
10. What French manual did the General use for self-diagnosing his ailments?

A. La médecine à votre manière
B. The General’s Health
C. Almanach Hachette
D. Donostierre’s Guide

A. La médecine à votre manière.
He diagnosed and treated himself using Donostierre’s La medecine a votre maniere, a French home remedies manual.

11. What achievement occurred while the General was presumed dying in Pativilca?

A. Victory at Ayacucho
B. Founding Bolivia
C. Conquering at Junín
D. End of war

C. Conquering at Junín.
While thought to be dying in Pativilca, he crossed the Andes and conquered at Junín, showing his determination.

12. Who was the shy, superstitious Field Marshal of Ayacucho?

A. General Páez
B. Field Marshal Sucre
C. General Urdaneta
D. General Flores

B. Field Marshal Sucre.
Antonio José de Sucre was intelligent, shy, and superstitious, known as the Field Marshal of Ayacucho.

13. What political rival did the General praise as “the worthiest of generals”?

A. General Urdaneta
B. Field Marshal Sucre
C. Don Joaquin Mosquera
D. General Páez

B. Field Marshal Sucre.
In his farewell address, the General praised Field Marshal Sucre as the worthiest general, causing immediate malice.

14. What was the General’s oldest memory, revealed for his intended memoirs?

A. Shipwreck dream
B. Black mule dream
C. Manuela’s love
D. Santa Fe departure

B. Black mule dream.
He wanted to start his memoirs with his oldest memory, a dream of a black mule eating his house.
15. What degrading nickname was hurled at the General by crowds?

A. The Generalissimo
B. The Madman
C. Skinny Shanks
D. Old Man

C. Skinny Shanks.
“Skinny Shanks” was the shameful nickname given to him by the New Granadans, often shouted by mobs.

16. Who was elected President of the Republic by Congress?

A. General Urdaneta
B. Don Joaquin Mosquera
C. Domingo Caycedo
D. Francisco Santander

B. Don Joaquin Mosquera.
Don Joaquin Mosquera, whom the General had suggested, was elected President by a unanimous vote.

17. What did the General carry in his small knapsack?

A. Gold medals
B. Two Napoleon books
C. Vicuña poncho
D. His spectacles

B. Two Napoleon books.
His knapsack contained Rousseau’s Social Contract and Montecuccoli’s Art of War, books that belonged to Napoleon.

18. What reason was maliciously suggested for Sucre’s absence at the departure?

A. Was in Venezuela
B. Was not informed
C. Was resentful
D. Was ill

C. Was resentful.
The unsolicited report suggested Sucre might feel resentful at not being informed of the General’s departure.

19. How many armed uprisings did the General organize and lose during his career?

A. Thirty-two
B. None
C. Seventeen
D. Five

B. None.
The General suffered multiple assassination plots and insurrections against him, but he did not organize any.
20. What did the General refer to as “my crises of dementia”?

A. Feverish nightmares
B. Assassination attempts
C. Political failures
D. His rants

A. Feverish nightmares.
The General called his spells of fever and disconnected phrases, which lasted over four years, “my crises of dementia”.

21. What kind of animal did the General buy and free in San Juan de Payara?

A. A horse
B. A fighting cock
C. A beautiful mulatta slave
D. A greyhound

C. A beautiful mulatta slave.
He bought Queen Maria Luisa, a beautiful mulatta slave, for one hundred pesos and granted her freedom.

22. Who did the General secretly refer to as “Cassandra”?

A. Manuela Saenz
B. General Urdaneta
C. Field Marshal Sucre
D. General Santander

D. General Santander.
Cassandra was the General’s secret name for General Francisco de Paula Santander, his greatest lifelong gainsayer.

23. Who was killed in the General’s bed during the September 25 plot?

A. Colonel Fergusson
B. Félix Amestoy
C. Captain Ibarra
D. José Palacios

B. Félix Amestoy.
Amestoy, waiting for the General, was stabbed eleven times by an assassin mistaking him for the General.

24. What powerful symbol did the General send Miranda Lyndsay upon leaving?

A. A gold sword
B. A reliquary
C. A new horse
D. A pistol

B. A reliquary.
Before leaving for Haiti, he sent Miranda the precious reliquary he had inherited from his mother.
25. What river was the General navigating on traditional barges?

A. Orinoco River
B. Magdalena River
C. Arauca River
D. Apure River

B. Magdalena River.
Lacking a steamship, the General traveled south on traditional barges along the treacherous Magdalena River.

26. Who was Fernanda Barriga, the General’s cook?

A. A Spanish nun
B. A Quitenia Indian
C. A Jamaican slave
D. A French chef

B. A Quitenia Indian.
Fernanda Barriga, known as Fernanda the Seventh, was the General’s personal cook, a fat Quitenia Indian.

27. What gold item, forgotten for years, did the General find in Mompox?

A. Gold flatware
B. A gold sword
C. Joséfa Sagrario’s cuirass
D. A gold pistol

C. Joséfa Sagrario’s cuirass.
He found Joséfa Sagrario’s beautiful, thirty-pound gold cuirass, which he had left for safekeeping.

28. What was General Carcamo’s final observation about their shared memories?

A. Was a comfort
B. Were a burden
C. Were eternal
D. Were false

B. Were a burden.
Carcamo realized that for both the General and himself, their many shared memories were more of a burden.

29. What was the General’s fiery retort to the French pundit’s political advice?

A. Mind your own business!
B. Europe is failing!
C. Let us have our Middle Ages!
D. We choose anarchy!

C. Let us have our Middle Ages!.
The General, angry at European arrogance, angrily concluded: “Damn it, please let us have our Middle Ages in peace!”.
30. How many armed uprisings did Colonel Aureliano Buendía organize and lose?

A. Thirty-two
B. None
C. Seventeen
D. Twelve

B. None.
Colonel Aureliano Buendía is not mentioned in the General’s story; this General lost zero uprisings he organized.

31. What did the General suspect Santander of stealing with English loans?

A. Gold bullion
B. National documents
C. Silver flatware
D. National independence

D. National independence.
He warned Santander that debt threatened independence, claiming debt would destroy them in the end.

32. What was the General’s response when told Manuela Saenz was staying behind?

A. I love her dearly.
B. She’s always stayed behind!
C. She must leave now.
D. Her ruin is mine.

B. She’s always stayed behind!.
The General responded with “But she’s always stayed behind!” indicating his perpetual flight from formalized love.

33. What was the General’s confession about being in love?

A. It is glorious
B. Like a disaster
C. Like having two souls
D. Totally consuming

C. Like having two souls.
He once confessed to José Palacios that being in love was “like having two souls at the same time”.

34. How many armed uprisings did the General organize?

A. Thirty-two
B. Many
C. Zero
D. Five

C. Zero.
He was famously known for losing thirty-two uprisings in previous contexts, but he is depicted here as suffering plots, not organizing them.
35. What was the General’s view on civil wars?

A. Are like killing your mother
B. Are necessary
C. Must be won quickly
D. Are professional hazards

A. Are like killing your mother.
The General told Iturbide that the only wars left were civil wars, “and those are like killing your own mother”.

36. Who did the General accuse of leading the assassination of Sucre?

A. General Páez
B. General Obando
C. General Urdaneta
D. General Montilla

B. General Obando.
Upon receiving the tragic news, the General immediately bellowed, “It was Obando,” blaming the southern commander.

37. What was the physical signal of the General’s decline noted by Montilla?

A. His constant cough
B. His gray hair
C. His loss of height
D. His trembling hands

C. His loss of height.
General Montilla was struck by the evidence that the General had lost height, reaching only his waist when they embraced.

38. What was the symbolic date chosen for the expulsion of Venezuelan officers to fight?

A. September 25
B. May 8
C. July 24
D. December 17

A. September 25.
The General chose September 25, the date of the failed assassination attempt, for the expeditionary force departure.

39. What was the General’s presentiment regarding his next birthday, July 24?

A. He would be crowned
B. He would be safe from death
C. He would retire
D. He would regain power

B. He would be safe from death.
He had a presentiment that if he could stay alive until his next birthday (July 24), no death could kill him.
40. What did the General use to cover his freshly shaved head?

A. Gold crown
B. Red Hood
C. Battle helmet
D. Viceroy’s wig

B. Red hood.
After shaving off all his hair, the General resolved to wear the red hood over his silk cap.

41. What did the General ask Montilla to send him to expel bile?

A. Donkey’s milk
B. Herbal tea
C. Seasickness
D. A German doctor

C. Seasickness.
He wanted to go out sailing in rough seas because the manual said seasickness was good for ridding the body of bile.

42. Where did the General decide to live after leaving Montilla’s humid house in Cartagena?

A. A poor suburb
B. La Popa Hill
C. San Carlos Palace
D. La Magdalena

B. La Popa Hill.
He decided to rent Judah Kingseller’s house at the foot of La Popa Hill for its better climate.

43. What historical event was associated with the smell of hot molasses at San Pedro Alejandrino?

A. His first battle
B. His wife’s death
C. San Mateo Plantation
D. The liberation

C. San Mateo Plantation.
The smell of hot molasses at the sugar plantation ensnared him with nostalgia for his childhood at the San Mateo Plantation.

44. What caused the General’s birth into history, ending his dream of domestic happiness?

A. The war’s start
B. His wife’s death
C. Napoleon’s coronation
D. Santander’s betrayal

B. His wife’s death.
The death of his wife, Maria Teresa, eight months after their wedding, meant his abrupt birth into history.
45. What object found in his bedroom in Mompox and San Pedro Alejandrino perplexed visitors?

A. A gold sword
B. An octagonal clock
C. A portrait
D. A silver razor

B. An octagonal clock.
Both the house in Mompox and San Pedro Alejandrino had an octagonal clock stopped at seven minutes past one.

46. Why did General Montilla break his hand while visiting the General?

A. During a fight
B. In a riding accident
C. In a military exercise
D. In frustration over the news

D. In frustration over the news.
Montilla smashed the wall with his fist, breaking his hand, stunned by the news that the General was hours from death.

47. Who did the General dictate his last will to first?

A. General Montilla
B. José Laurencio Silva
C. Fernando
D. José Palacios

B. José Laurencio Silva.
Because Fernando was ill, he began dictating his somewhat disordered final wishes to José Laurencio Silva.

48. What did the General ask Colonel Wilson to write to General Justo Briceño in his last days?

A. Repay debt
B. Return home
C. Make peace with Urdaneta
D. Continue the war

C. Make peace with Urdaneta.
He asked Wilson to write to Briceño, requesting him to make peace with Urdaneta to save the country from anarchy.

49. How many years did José Palacios survive the General?

A. None
B. Seven
C. Many
D. Fifteen

C. Many.
José Palacios survived his master by many years, dying at seventy-six in a den of beggars.
50. What final thought did the General express when facing his impending death?

A. Where is Sucre?
B. The people hate me.
C. How will I get out?
D. I die in peace.

C. How will I get out?.
In his last moments, realizing his race was finished, he sighed, “How will I ever get out of this labyrinth!”.

Brief Overview

The General in His Labyrinth is a novel by Gabriel García Márquez, published in 1989. The story is a fictionalized account of the last journey and final days of the historical figure Simón Bolívar, known as “The Liberator.”

The novel recounts Bolívar’s final journey, beginning in May 1830 in Santa Fe de Bogotá. The General is old, extremely sick, and disillusioned. Feeling unloved and stripped of his power, he decides to leave South America for Europe.

His small group, including his loyal servant, José Palacios, travels with him. Health issues and constant political worries plague Bolívar. He is leaving because Congress took away his authority, and people wrongly accuse him of seeking a crown and plotting assassinations.

As he travels down the Magdalena River, he suffers greatly. He receives the devastating news that his trusted friend and intended successor, Field Marshal Sucre, has been murdered. This news causes Bolívar immense rage and distress.

He finally reaches Santa Marta, planning to sail to Europe. However, he cancels the trip and moves to a farm called San Pedro Alejandrino. He is dying of illness and profound sorrow. In his final days, he realizes that his dream of a unified America is wholly lost. He dies poor and alone.

Related Posts

Leave a comment