The Town MCQs

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Author: Nasir Iqbal | Assistant Professor of English Literature


Updated on: November 16, 2025
Estimated Reading Time: 17 min

The Town MCQs

1. Who narrates the main story of Flem Snopes’s rise in Jefferson?

A. Gavin Stevens
B. Charles Mallison
C. V. K. Ratliff
D. Gowan Stevens

B. Charles Mallison.
Charles Mallison tells the story, recalling information learned from his cousin Gowan and his Uncle Gavin.

2. What commodity did V. K. Ratliff sell while traveling around the county?

A. Hardware
B. Sewing machines
C. Livestock
D. Used cars

B. Sewing machines.
Ratliff spent most of his time traveling in his buckboard selling a demonstrator sewing machine.

3. What item did Flem Snopes bring with him when he first drove into Jefferson?

A. A bank deed
B. Wife and baby
C. Sewing machines
D. Buried gold

B. Wife and baby.
Flem drove into town in a wagon carrying his wife, baby, and a small assortment of house furnishings.

4. Where did Flem Snopes and his family initially live when they moved to Jefferson?

A. A rented room
B. A canvas tent
C. The depot office
D. Varner’s store

B. A canvas tent.
A week after starting at the café, Snopes set up a canvas tent behind the restaurant to live in.
5. What family was Flem Snopes married into, which gave him his initial start?

A. The Sartorises
B. The Varners
C. The Compsons
D. The Tulls

B. The Varners.
Flem married Eula Varner, the youngest daughter of Will Varner, who owned much of Frenchman’s Bend.

6. What property did Flem gain the right to by marrying Eula Varner?

A. The Varner farm
B. Frenchman’s Bend
C. The Old Frenchman’s place
D. Will Varner’s money

C. The Old Frenchman place.
The ruined mansion that gave its name to Frenchman’s Bend was given to Flem and Eula as a wedding gift.

7. Why did Manfred de Spain become mayor of Jefferson?

A. Financial dealings
B. Against automobiles
C. For young people
D. Colonel Sartoris

C. For young people.
His candidacy was supported by the contemporary generation of young people who saw him as an augury of destiny.

8. What was Mayor Manfred de Spain’s first official act concerning city ordinances?

A. Repealed speed limit
B. Automobile law
C. Fired employees
D. Raised taxes

B. Automobile law.
Spain’s first act concerned Colonel Sartoris’s old edict against automobiles being driven on city streets.

9. What title did Mayor de Spain create and appoint Flem Snopes to hold?

A. City Alderman
B. Power-plant superintendent
C. Bank Vice President
D. Store Manager

B. Power-plant superintendent.
The town created the office of power-plant superintendent, and Manfred de Spain appointed Flem Snopes to the position.
10. What did Flem Snopes do with the safety valves from the power-plant boilers?

A. Sold them
B. Stole them
C. Replaced them
D. Removed them

D. Removed them.
Flem removed the three safety valves and stopped the vents with one-inch steel screw plugs.

11. What did Flem Snopes plant at Montgomery Ward Snopes’s studio?

A. French postcards
B. Untaxed whiskey
C. Stolen money
D. Stolen brass

B. Untaxed whiskey.
Flem secretly planted several gallons of untaxed homemade whiskey at the studio to ensure his cousin’s removal.

12. Who was the Negro fireman whom Flem Snopes successfully blackmailed into stealing brass?

A. Tomey’s Turl
B. Tom Tom Bird
C. Lycurgus
D. Aleck Sander

B. Tom Tom Bird.
Flem convinced Tom Tom Bird to steal discarded brass fittings by saying that Tomey’s Turl was planning to frame him.

13. What was the name of Tom Tom Bird’s younger co-worker whom Flem used for manipulation?

A. Joe Buffaloe
B. Mr. Harker
C. Turl Beauchamp
D. Grover Winbush

C. Turl Beauchamp.
Turl was the night fireman, and Flem attempted to convince Tom Tom that Turl was trying to get his day shift.

14. What happened immediately after Turl entered Tom Tom’s house late one night?

A. Tom Tom hit him
B. They talked quietly
C. They stole brass
D. Turl found Tom Tom

B. They talked quietly.
Tom Tom attacked Turl, but they eventually sat down and talked in mutual federation against Flem Snopes.
15. Where did the two Negro fìremen hide the accumulated stolen brass?

A. In the swamp
B. City water tank
C. Under the coal pile
D. Tom Tom’s house

B. City water tank.
They loaded the brass onto a wagon and hauled it away, eventually putting the heavy metal into the city water tank.

16. What payment did Flem Snopes make for the missing brass when auditors came calling?

A. Nothing at all
B. Replaced it later
C. Paid in cash
D. Gave the Varner deed

C. Paid in cash.
Snopes paid the amount the auditors said was missing (two hundred eighteen dollars and fifty-two cents) in cash.

17. What did the Jefferson water tank ultimately symbolize regarding Flem Snopes?

A. A victory
B. His footprint
C. A monument
D. Simple greed

B. His footprint.
The water tank was understood not as a monument saying ‘I got this far’ but a footprint saying ‘I moved again’.

18. What was the visible physical condition of Flem Snopes’s successor, Eck Snopes?

A. Had a bad eye
B. Wore a steel brace
C. Used a cane
D. Missing a hand

B. Wore a steel brace.
Eck Snopes came to town with a broken neck, kept rigid in a steel brace and leather harness.

19. What courageous action did Eck Snopes take that caused his injury?

A. Saved a woman
B. Held a cypress log
C. Fought the Klan
D. Stopped a runaway

B. Held a cypress log.
He held up a tremendous cypress log single-handedly when a Negro laborer slipped, breaking his own neck.
20. Why did Flem Snopes fire Eck Snopes from the back-alley restaurant?

A. He was stealing
B. He was too slow
C. Questioned hamburgers
D. He had bad health

C. Questioned hamburgers.
Eck publicly questioned the ingredients of the hamburgers, saying they contained something other than beef.

21. What was the name of Eck Snopes’s son who showed early financial promise?

A. Wall Street Panic
B. Byron Snopes
C. Virgil Snopes
D. Bilbo Snopes

A. Wallstreet Panic.
Eck’s son was named Wallstreet Panic, a non-Snopes in character, who became a grocer.

22. What job did Will Varner’s influence secure for the incapacitated Eck Snopes?

A. Sawmill worker
B. Night watchman
C. Bank teller
D. City Alderman

B. Night watchman.
Eck was hired as the night watchman at Renfrow’s oil tank at the depot through Will Varner’s Masonic influence.

23. Who ran the jewelry/photography studio that dealt in French postcards?

A. Eck Snopes
B. Byron Snopes
C. Montgomery Ward
D. I.O. Snopes

C. Montgomery Ward.
Montgomery Ward Snopes, son of I.O. Snopes, ran the “atelier” (studio) where the postcards were found.

24. What position did Manfred de Spain hold in the bank after Colonel Sartoris died?

A. Cashier
B. President
C. Vice President
D. Teller

B. President.
After Colonel Sartoris’s death, Manfred de Spain was elected president of the bank.
25. Who was the biological father of Eula’s daughter, Linda?

A. Flem Snopes
B. Manfred de Spain
C. McCarron
D. Gavin Stevens

C. McCarron.
Ratliff suggested that the McCarron boy (the one who fought the ambushers) was Linda’s father.

26. What was Flem Snopes’s wife, Eula, planning to do when she died?

A. Leave Flem
B. Take a trip
C. Commìt suicide
D. Divorce Manfred

C. Commìt suicide.
Eula Snopes commìtted suicide, which was linked to her inability to deal with her situation.

27. What physical item did Gavin Stevens use in his juvenile attempt to stop De Spain’s car?

A. A garden rake
B. Barbed wire
C. Glass tacks
D. Old wagon

C. Glass tacks.
Gavin was caught attempting to scatter a box of tacks in the street where De Spain’s car would run over them.

28. What organization sent Flem and Eula Snopes an invitation to the Christmas Ball?

A. Byron Society
B. Bridge Club
C. Cotillion Club
D. City Council

C. Cotillion Club.
Mother announced that the Cotillion Club had voted to send an invitation to Mr and Mrs Snopes.

29. What type of gift did Manfred de Spain send Gavin Stevens after the rake incident?

A. A rubber duck
B. A corsage box
C. A broken watch
D. A red necktie

B. A corsage box.
De Spain sent a box supposedly containing a corsage, but inside was the rake-head wrapped with a used prophylactic.
30. What was Eula Snopes’s final action before her funeral, related to Manfred de Spain?

A. Killed Manfred
B. Wrote a note
C. Fled town
D. Sold the house

C. Fled town.
She commìtted suicide, but her body was found after she had already been killed; she was trying to leave town.

31. What did Linda Snopes inherit from her mother?

A. A will/inheritance
B. A mansion
C. A fitted travelling case
D. Nothing specific

A. A will/inheritance.
Linda was due to inherit a share of Will Varner’s property through her mother’s part of the will.

32. Where did Manfred de Spain leave for immediately following Eula’s funeral?

A. New York
B. Out West
C. Texas
D. Memphis

B. Out West.
He left town rapidly, selling his bank stock and house, and moving out West after the funeral.

33. What kind of flower did Benjy Compson associate with his sister Caddy?

A. Honeysuckle
B. Wisteria
C. Jimson weed
D. Cedar perfume

D. Cedar perfume.
The memory mentions Caddy’s smell, which is further specified in Quentin’s memories as cedar perfume.

34. Who was the gentleman who married Melisandre Backus?

A. A bootlegger
B. A New York sculptor
C. A German professor
D. A fellow Mason

A. A bootlegger.
Melisandre married a stranger who was a big, rich New Orleans bootlegger.
35. What physical object did Gavin Stevens use to try and compel Linda to marry him?

A. The bank
B. Her dead mother
C. Her will
D. Her poverty

C. Her will.
Gavin threatened to tell Linda about her mother’s shame unless Eula arranged for Linda to leave Jefferson.

36. What did Linda Snopes permit Gavin Stevens to do only if nothing else could help her?

A. Marry her
B. Commìt suicide
C. Ask Flem
D. Tell the truth

A. Marry her.
Linda asked Gavin to swear he would marry her only if no other action could save her from her situation.

37. What did Ratliff say was Manfred de Spain’s biggest mistake regarding Flem Snopes?

A. Adultery
B. Bank theft
C. Tried to pay Flem
D. Bank job

C. Tried to pay Flem.
De Spain tried to pay Flem for the violation, assuming the droit de seigneur, which offended Flem’s pride.

38. What was the name of I.O. Snopes’s son who resembled a gorilla and courted Linda?

A. Wall Street Panic
B. Matt Levitt
C. Doris Snopes
D. Virgil Snopes

B. Matt Levitt.
Matt Levitt, a garage mechanic and Golden Gloves amateur, courted Linda, causing trouble for Gavin.

39. What insult did Linda Snopes yell at Matt Levitt in Gavin’s office?

A. Stùpid son of a bitch
B. Ugly brute
C. Get away
D. Cowardly fool

A. Stùpid son of a bitch.
Linda cursed Matt Levitt, calling him a “clumsy, ignorant, stùpid son of a bitch” after he ruined her book.
40. What job did Linda Snopes take after she graduated and left Jefferson?

A. Writer
B. Sculptor
C. University student
D. Unknown

C. University student.
Linda left Jefferson to attend the University of Oxford (Mississippi) after the Christmas holidays.

41. How did Flem Snopes manage to secure all of I.O. Snopes’s mule stock?

A. Lawsuit won
B. Railroad claim
C. Purchased them
D. Gambled them

C. Purchased them.
Flem offered to buy I.O.’s remaining six mules, provided I.O. left Jefferson forever.

42. What document did Flem give Mrs. Hait in exchange for her silence about the mule fire?

A. A ten-dollar bill
B. The house mortgage
C. A bag of gold
D. A free mule

B. The house mortgage.
Flem bought Mrs. Hait’s mortgage from the bank and gave it to her, making her house debt-free.

43. Who helped Mrs. Hait transport her remaining money out of the burning house?

A. I.O. Snopes
B. Old Het
C. Grover Winbush
D. Buck Connors

B. Old Het.
Mrs. Hait came out carrying her money (in a quart fruit jar) and an umbrella, followed by Old Het carrying a crayon portrait.

44. What was the name of the youngest of Byron Snopes’s four Indian children?

A. Byron
B. Montgomery Ward
C. Unnamed boy
D. Unnamed girl

C. Unnamed boy.
The youngest child was in a single flour-sack garment, described as the “least un”.
45. Why did Flem Snopes pay Mrs. Widrington five hundred dollars?

A. To buy her silence
B. For her dog’s life
C. To stop the police
D. To fund the monument

B. For her dog’s life.
He paid the full pedigree value of Mrs. Widrington’s dog after his nephews killed and ate it.

46. What was Flem Snopes’s reaction when Will Varner finally stormed into his house at 4:00 AM?

A. He fled
B. He acted nonchalantly
C. He cursed back
D. He cried silently

B. He acted nonchalantly.
Flem sat quietly, chewing tobacco, until Manfred de Spain arrived, waiting for the final events to play out.

47. What did Manfred de Spain give Flem Snopes to settle the affair before running away?

A. A cash deed
B. The bank stock
C. All his property
D. A note of debt

B. The bank stock.
De Spain wrote out a bill of sale for his bank stock, transferring ownership to Flem Snopes.

48. What epitaph did Flem choose for Eula Snopes’s monument?

A. Beloved wife
B. A virtuous wife
C. Never forgotten
D. Gone too soon

B. A virtuous wife.
The marble column was inscribed with “A Virtuous Wife Is a Crown to Her Husband”.

49. What physical detail did Linda Snopes share with her biological father, McCarron?

A. The hair color
B. The eye color
C. The hair ribbon
D. The height

B. The eye color.
Linda’s eyes were described as hyacinthine blue, while McCarron’s eyes were hard gray.
50. What profession did V. K. Ratliff help Wall Street Panic establish?

A. A bank
B. A mule trade
C. A wholesale company
D. A photography studio

C. A wholesale company.
Ratliff invested in Wall Street’s plan to open a wholesale company to supply local merchants affordably.

Brief Overview

The Town is a novel by William Faulkner, first published on April 17, 1957. It is the second novel in the Snopes trilogy. The story focuses on the continued, greedy rise of Flem Snopes in Jefferson, Mississippi, and the community’s futile efforts to stop his power grab.

Flem Snopes moves to Jefferson and begins his calculated rise to power. He is silent and entirely focused on gaining wealth. He starts in a restaurant and quickly becomes the city power-plant superintendent.

Flem’s beautiful wife, Eula, is having a long affair with Manfred de Spain, the town mayor. Lawyer Gavin Stevens opposes Flem and secretly admires Eula.

Flem is caught stealing brass while superintendent, hiding it in the water tank. When another Snopes relative steals money from the bank, Flem uses the crisis to force De Spain to pay the missing funds.

This manipulation results in Flem becoming the bank’s vice president. Flem works to remove embarrassing relatives like Eck and I.O. Snopes from town to protect his new reputation.

Eula’s daughter, Linda, is not Flem’s child but is from an earlier affair. Flem controls Linda because her marriage might cost him money from her grandfather’s will. Gavin tries to encourage Linda to leave for school outside the South.

Facing Flem’s ruthless schemes, Eula tragically kills herself. Flem ensures De Spain immediately leaves town and quickly buys De Spain’s bank stock, thus becoming the bank president.

Gavin helps Linda escape Jefferson for New York to pursue her dreams. Flem builds a large, expensive monument for Eula, claiming she was a “Virtuous Wife.”

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