Gabriel García Márquez

Gabriel García Márquez Study questions

One Hundred Years of Solitude

Facts about Gabriel García Márquez

➾ Gabriel García Márquez did not meet his mother until he was almost eight years old.

➾ He derived his rich, pungent writing style directly from the storytelling mannerisms of his grandmother.

➾ He quit law school because he felt that the study of law “had nothing to do with justice”.

➾ As a reporter, he once staged a fake rebellion using sirens and drums in a remote jungle village to create a news story.

➾ An exposé he wrote on a shipwrecked sailor revealed that the naval destroyer had been carrying black market goods, which deeply embarrassed the government.

➾ He rewrote his novel No One Writes to the Colonel a remarkable eleven times.

➾ During extreme poverty in Paris, he sustained himself by re-boiling chicken bones to make daily broth.

➾ His hotel landlord trusted him enough to allow him to accumulate massive debt because they saw him constantly writing in his room.

➾ He later reflected that his three years of poverty taught him that “nobody dies of hunger” and one is capable of sleeping under bridges.

➾ He worked for a magazine sometimes nicknamed Venezuela Pornografica and stated that he read and believed all the gossip within.

➾ After experiencing writer’s block, he broke it by turning his family car around and barricading himself at home for 15 months to write One Hundred Years of Solitude.

Gabriel García Márquez MCQs

1. What is the full name of the author, born March 6, 1928?

A. Gabo Jimenez
B. Gabriel José García Márquez
C. Luis Alejandro Velasco
D. William Faulkner

B. Gabriel José García Márquez
This is his full birth name, though he is often known by his affectionate nickname, Gabo.

2. What is one of the common nicknames Gabriel García Márquez is known by?

A. Gabby
B. Gabito
C. Colonel
D. Maestro

B. Gabito
“Gabito” (or “Gabo”) was a popular and affectionate nickname used for him throughout Latin America.

3. In which Colombian village was Gabriel García Márquez born?

A. Sucre
B. Macondo
C. Bogotá
D. Aracataca

D. Aracataca
He was born in Aracataca, which became the real-life inspiration for the fictional town of Macondo.

4. In which year did Gabriel García Márquez die?

A. 1982
B. 1999
C. 2012
D. 2014

D. 2014
He died of pneumonia at the age of 87 in Mexico City.

5. What was the immediate cause of Gabriel García Márquez’s death?

A. Lymphatic cancer
B. Dementia
C. Pneumonia
D. Heart failure

C. Pneumonia
Though he suffered from cancer and dementia, his death in 2014 was attributed to pneumonia.

6. García Márquez was diagnosed with what type of cancer in 1999?

A. Lung
B. Lymphatic
C. Bone
D. Skin

B. Lymphatic
He was diagnosed with lymphatic cancer in 1999 but recovered following treatment.

7. What was García Márquez reported to be suffering from in 2012?

A. A severe infection
B. Paralysis
C. Dementia
D. Writer’s block

C. Dementia
In 2012, his brother announced that García Márquez was suffering from dementia.

8. What is considered García Márquez’s first serious writing or novella, published in 1955?

A. The Evil Hour
B. Big Mama’s Funeral
C. Leaf Storm (La Hojarasca)
D. The Colonel

C. Leaf Storm (La Hojarasca)
Leaf Storm was his first novella and the first work to introduce the fictional town of Macondo.

9. Which novel, published in 1985, is described as his second most well-known work?

A. The Autumn of the Patriarch
B. Chronicle of a Death Foretold
C. Love in the Time of Cholera
D. Leaf Storm

C. Love in the Time of Cholera
After One Hundred Years of Solitude, this is his most celebrated novel.

10. Who raised García Márquez for the first ten years of his life?

A. His father
B. His mother
C. His maternal grandparents
D. Fidel Castro

C. His maternal grandparents
He was raised by his maternal grandparents, who had a profound influence on his storytelling.

11. García Márquez credited his grandmother with providing the foundation for what aspect of his work?

A. His political views
B. His financial stability
C. His pungent style
D. His love of cinema

C. His pungent style
His grandmother’s “pungent style” of telling fantastic stories matter-of-factly inspired magical realism.

12. The author’s grandfather became the model for what archetype character in his fiction?

A. The Seaman
B. The Dictator
C. The Colonel
D. The Telegraph Operator

C. The Colonel
His grandfather, a veteran of the War of a Thousand Days, became the model for the recurring colonel archetype.

13. What traumatic Colombian civil war did García Márquez’s grandfather participate in?

A. La Violencia
B. The War of a Thousand Days
C. The Cuban Revolution
D. The Spanish Civil War

B. The War of a Thousand Days
His grandfather was a colonel in this devastating civil war, a recurring theme in his novels.

14. The village of Aracataca is the real-life inspiration for what fictional town?

A. Sucre
B. Cartagena
C. Cienaga
D. Macondo

D. Macondo
Macondo, the setting of One Hundred Years of Solitude, is based on his childhood home of Aracataca.

15. What US company established a banana headquarters in Aracataca, leading to massacres?

A. Standard Oil
B. The United Fruit Company
C. Chiquita Brands
D. Wells Fargo

B. The United Fruit Company
The 1928 “Banana Massacre” by this company became a key event in One Hundred Years of Solitude.

16. When did García Márquez first publish short stories?

A. 1955
B. 1967
C. 1947 while a student
D. 1970

C. 1947 while a student
He began his literary career publishing short stories in newspapers while he was a student.

17. After abandoning his higher studies, what profession did García Márquez fully commit to?

A. Film direction
B. Pharmacy
C. Journalism
D. Political activism

C. Journalism
He dropped out of law school to become a journalist, a profession that deeply shaped his writing style.

18. What newspaper column did García Márquez write for El Heraldo in Barranquilla?

A. El Espectador
B. La Hojarasca
C. La Jirafa
D. El Pueblo

C. “La Jirafa”
He wrote a regular column called “La Jirafa” (The Giraffe) under the name “Septimus.”

19. Which literary quality characterized García Márquez’s early journalistic writings?

A. Academic formality
B. Irony and mordant humor
C. Pure naturalism
D. Excessive pathos

B. Irony and mordant humor
His early columns were known for their biting humor and ironic observations.

20. García Márquez preferred to cover what type of stories as a reporter for El Espectador?

A. Editorials
B. Foreign correspondence
C. Fires and crimes
D. Political analysis

C. Fires and crimes
He preferred covering the “police beat” and sensational stories, like fires and crimes.

21. The fabricated rebellion story in Quibdo was staged to protest what?

A. Government corruption
B. The correspondent’s assignment
C. Censorship
D. The price of bananas

B. The correspondent’s assignment
He staged the story out of boredom and frustration with his assignment in the remote town.

22. What did the sailor Luis Alejandro Velasco reveal that embarrassed the Rojas Pinilla government?

A. The storm was fabricated
B. The destroyer carried black market goods
C. The sailor was a spy
D. The storm hit in New Orleans

B. The destroyer carried black market goods
Velasco revealed the shipwreck was due to contraband, not a storm, embarrassing the dictatorship.

23. When was The Tale of A Shipwrecked Sailor first published under García Márquez’s name?

A. 1954
B. 1966
C. 1970
D. 1982

C. 1970
Though written as a newspaper series in 1955, it was first published in book form in 1970.

24. Which of his novels was García Márquez rewriting eleven times while stuck jobless in Paris?

A. Leaf Storm
B. The Evil Hour
C. One Hundred Years of Solitude
D. No One Writes to the Colonel

D. No One Writes to the Colonel
He wrote this novella, a masterpiece of conciseness, during a period of extreme poverty in Paris.

25. What was García Márquez’s first novel focused on the theme of violence?

A. La Hojarasca
B. La Mala Hora (The Evil Hour)
C. El Coronel
D. Cien años de soledad

B. La Mala Hora (The Evil Hour)
This novel was his first to directly confront the theme of *La Violencia*, the political violence in Colombia.

26. What conclusion did García Márquez reach after three years of poverty in Paris?

A. That he required political asylum
B. That he needed a US visa
C. That nobody dies of hunger
D. That he should stop writing

C. That nobody dies of hunger
His experience of extreme poverty in Paris gave him a sense of resilience and this philosophical conclusion.

27. Who was the fiancée and eventual wife of García Márquez, described as having a “beautiful neck”?

A. Luisa Santiaga
B. Pilar Ternera
C. Mercedes Barcha
D. Consuelo

C. Mercedes Barcha
He married Mercedes Barcha, his childhood sweetheart, in 1958.

28. García Márquez finished which short story collection while working in Caracas, Venezuela?

A. No One Writes to the Colonel
B. Big Mama’s Funeral
C. Leaf Storm
D. The Tale of A Shipwrecked Sailor

B. Big Mama’s Funeral
He completed this collection (Los funerales de la Mamá Grande) while living in Venezuela.

29. After the Cuban revolution, García Márquez opened the Bogotá office for what Cuban news agency?

A. El Espectador
B. Momento
C. Prensa Latina
D. Alternativa

C. Prensa Latina
His support for the revolution led him to help establish the Bogotá office for Cuba’s official news agency.

30. García Márquez’s political leanings, since his student days, are described as being what?

A. Liberal
B. Conservative
C. Revolutionary, even communist
D. Federalist

C. Revolutionary, even communist
He was a committed leftist and socialist his entire life, stemming from his student activism.

31. While representing Prensa Latina at the UN, what famous incident did García Márquez witness?

A. Castro’s long speech
B. Khruschev using his shoe as a gavel
C. The signing of a peace treaty
D. An assassination attempt

B. Khruschev using his shoe as a gavel
He was present for the infamous (and possibly apocryphal) incident of Khruschev banging his shoe.

32. García Márquez’s US visa was withdrawn around 1961 due to what reason?

A. Financial debt
B. His political leanings and association with Cuba
C. Criminal activities
D. A dispute with immigration officials

B. His political leanings and association with Cuba
His left-wing politics and friendship with Castro made him a target of the US government.

33. García Márquez traveled through the US Deep South by bus as an homage to which writer?

A. Ben Hecht
B. Ernest Hemingway
C. John Steinbeck
D. William Faulkner

D. William Faulkner
He deeply admired Faulkner and traveled through his territory, the American South, by Greyhound bus.

34. What period of intense political violence and repression in Colombia occurred around 1948?

A. The Banana Massacre
B. The War of a Thousand Days
C. La Violencia
D. The Latin Boom

C. La Violencia
“La Violencia” (The Violence) was a brutal ten-year civil war that became a major theme in his work.

35. Who was the famed Mexican novelist with whom García Márquez collaborated on screenplays?

A. Julio Cortázar
B. Jorge Rojas
C. Carlos Fuentes
D. Juan Ramon Jimenez

C. Carlos Fuentes
He formed a close friendship with Fuentes, and they worked together on several film projects in Mexico.

36. What did García Márquez realize he lacked working on film scripts compared to novels?

A. Sufficient money
B. Technical expertise
C. The writer’s complete control over the work
D. Critical acclaim

C. The writer’s complete control over the work
He felt that in filmmaking, the writer’s vision was diluted by the collaborative process.

37. García Márquez experienced a four-year period of difficulty known as what, before writing his masterpiece?

A. Exile
B. Writer’s block
C. Political imprisonment
D. Journalism fatigue

B. Writer’s block
He suffered a severe writer’s block for four years before his breakthrough inspiration for his masterpiece.

38. While driving from Mexico City to Acapulco, García Márquez began planning which masterpiece?

A. The Evil Hour
B. Chronicle of a Death Foretold
C. One Hundred Years of Solitude
D. Love in the Time of Cholera

C. One Hundred Years of Solitude
He had a sudden flash of inspiration for the novel while on this drive, ending his writer’s block.

39. Approximately how long did García Márquez work on writing One Hundred Years of Solitude?

A. Six months
B. Eighteen months
C. Three years
D. Ten years

B. Eighteen months
He locked himself away for 18 months, writing in a haze of creative energy to complete the novel.

40. In which year was One Hundred Years of Solitude first published in Spanish (Cien años de soledad)?

A. 1961
B. 1967
C. 1970
D. 1982

B. 1967
The novel was an immediate and massive success upon its 1967 publication in Buenos Aires.

41. Which Argentinean writer, alongside Carlos Fuentes, was an early supporter of Cien Años de Soledad?

A. Jorge Luis Borges
B. Julio Cortázar
C. Pablo Neruda
D. Plinio Apuleyo Mendoza

B. Julio Cortázar
Julio Cortázar, a major figure of the “Latin Boom,” was an important early champion of the novel.

42. Who was the translator who rendered One Hundred Years of Solitude into English?

A. William Kennedy
B. Gregory Rabassa
C. Ben Hecht
D. Luisa Santiaga

B. Gregory Rabassa
Rabassa’s 1970 translation was highly acclaimed by García Márquez himself as a work of art.

43. What term describes the rise in popularity of Latin-American writing in the 1960s and 1970s?

A. The New Wave
B. The Latin Boom
C. Modernism
D. Postmodernism

B. The Latin Boom
His novel was a central work of the “Latin Boom,” which brought global attention to Latin American authors.

44. One Hundred Years of Solitude is considered a central work in which literary movement?

A. Postmodernism
B. Naturalism
C. Magical realism
D. Existentialism

C. Magical realism
The novel is the most famous example of magical realism, blending the fantastic with the mundane.

45. In 1973, following the assassination of Salvador Allende, García Márquez co-founded which left-wing magazine?

A. El Espectador
B. Prensa Latina
C. Alternativa
D. Momento

C. Alternativa
He co-founded this political magazine in Colombia in response to the coup in Chile.

46. What novel, published in 1975, focused on the theme of dictatorship and power?

A. Love in the Time of Cholera
B. The Autumn of the Patriarch
C. Chronicle of a Death Foretold
D. The Evil Hour

B. The Autumn of the Patriarch
This dense, experimental novel is a portrait of an archetypal Caribbean dictator, isolated by absolute power.

47. García Márquez established a personal relationship with which Cuban leader?

A. Che Guevara
B. Fidel Castro
C. Omar Torrijos
D. Salvador Allende

B. Fidel Castro
His controversial and long-standing friendship with Fidel Castro often drew criticism from the West.

48. In which year was García Márquez awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature?

A. 1967
B. 1970
C. 1981
D. 1982

D. 1982
He was awarded the Nobel Prize for his novels and short stories, which combined the fantastic and realistic.

49. García Márquez claimed that the atmosphere of his books is the atmosphere of what stage of life?

A. Old age
B. Journalism
C. Childhood
D. Adulthood

C. Childhood
He stated that his style was based on his grandmother’s way of telling stories, rooted in his childhood.

50. In his Nobel lecture, García Márquez expressed belief in the possibility of creating what?

A. Scientific advancement
B. Eternal solitude
C. The opposite utopia
D. Universal warfare

C. The opposite utopia
He concluded his lecture with a powerful call for a “new and sweeping utopia of life.”

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.