Samuel Beckett

Study question Samuel Beckett

Facts about Samuel Beckett

➾ He insisted he was born on Good Friday, April 13, 1906, despite his birth certificate listing May 13.

➾ As a young man, he attended the Portora Royal School, which Oscar Wilde also attended.

➾ He once claimed to lack human feelings after rejecting the advances of James Joyce’s daughter.

➾ His study of Marcel Proust led him to conclude that habit was the “cancer of time”.

➾ In Paris in 1937, he was stabbed in the street by a man who had begged him for money.

➾ He visited his assailant in prison, who responded to Beckett’s inquiry about the attack with “Je ne sais pas, Monsieur” (“I do not know, Sir”).

➾ During World War II, he joined the underground movement in Paris to resist the Germans.

➾ After fleeing the occupied zone, he supported himself until liberation by working as an agricultural labourer.

➾ In 1958, he withdrew his plays from presentation in Ireland to protest the government’s censorship.

➾ His play Waiting for Godot was performed in 1957 for over 1,400 convicts at San Quentin penitentiary.

➾ After winning the 1969 Nobel Prize for Literature, he declined the trip to Stockholm and gave away the prize money.

Samuel Beckett MCQs

1. Where was Samuel Beckett born?

A. London, England
B. Enniskillen, Northern Ireland
C. Dublin, Ireland
D. Paris, France

C. Dublin, Ireland
He was born in Foxrock, a suburb of Dublin.

2. In what year was Samuel Beckett born?

A. 1926
B. 1906
C. 1898
D. 1913

B. 1906
He was born on April 13, 1906.

3. What was Samuel Beckett’s religious background?

A. Protestant
B. Catholic
C. Agnostic
D. Atheist

A. Protestant
He came from a middle-class Protestant background in predominantly Catholic Ireland.

4. Which university did Samuel Beckett attend for his undergraduate studies?

A. University College Dublin
B. Sorbonne University
C. Oxford University
D. Trinity College, Dublin

D. Trinity College, Dublin
He studied modern languages at Trinity from 1923 to 1927.

5. What were Samuel Beckett’s major subjects at Trinity College Dublin?

A. Philosophy and Literature
B. English and History
C. French and Italian
D. Drama and Classics

C. French and Italian
He excelled in modern languages, particularly French and Italian.

6. What was Samuel Beckett’s first job after graduating from Trinity College?

A. Lecturer in French literature in Dublin
B. Teacher of English in Paris
C. Writer for a Parisian newspaper
D. Quantity surveyor, like his father

B. Teacher of English in Paris
He worked as an exchange lecturer (lecteur d’anglais) at the École Normale Supérieure in Paris from 1928 to 1930.

7. In what year did Samuel Beckett first return to Ireland as a lecturer in French literature?

A. 1931
B. 1928
C. 1945
D. 1937

A. 1931
He returned to lecture at Trinity College but left after only four terms.

8. When did Samuel Beckett make Paris his permanent home?

A. 1926
B. 1945
C. 1937
D. 1932

C. 1937
After traveling and living briefly elsewhere, he settled permanently in Paris in 1937.

9. Why did Beckett find teaching uncongenial?

A. It interfered with his creative activities.
B. He found the students uninspiring.
C. He preferred to travel.
D. He was poorly paid.

A. It interfered with his creative activities.
He disliked the demands of academic life and felt it hindered his writing.

10. When did Beckett change from writing in English to writing in French?

A. Early 1930s
B. Late 1940s
C. Mid-1930s
D. Early 1950s

B. Late 1940s
After World War II, during a highly creative period, he made the deliberate switch to French.

11. What was a primary reason for Beckett’s rejection of Ireland as his homeland?

A. The cold weather
B. Lack of literary opportunities
C. Strict censorship by the Catholic clergy
D. Family disagreements

C. Strict censorship by the Catholic clergy
He found the cultural atmosphere in Ireland stifling and repressive.

12. Which other famous Irish expatriates offered similar explanations for finding Ireland uncongenial?

A. W.B. Yeats and Oscar Wilde
B. Sean O’Casey and James Joyce
C. George Bernard Shaw and Bram Stoker
D. Jonathan Swift and Brendan Behan

B. Sean O’Casey and James Joyce
Like Beckett, O’Casey and Joyce also left Ireland due to censorship and cultural constraints.

13. In what year did Beckett withdraw his plays from the Dublin International Theater Festival in protest?

A. 1953
B. 1958
C. 1969
D. 1945

B. 1958
He protested the Dublin Archbishop’s refusal to allow works by Joyce and O’Casey to be staged.

14. What was the initial critical reaction to “Waiting for Godot”?

A. It was an instant masterpiece.
B. It was labelled “the strange little play in which ‘nothing happens’.”
C. It was controversial and banned.
D. It was largely ignored.

B. It was labelled “the strange little play in which ‘nothing happens’.”
Its unconventional structure and lack of traditional plot initially baffled many critics.

15. What was Samuel Beckett’s father’s profession?

A. Teacher
B. Quantity surveyor
C. Writer
D. Nurse

B. Quantity surveyor
His father, William Frank Beckett, worked in the construction business.

16. What school did Beckett attend, which Oscar Wilde also attended?

A. Trinity College Dublin
B. St. Patrick’s Cathedral Grammar School
C. Eton College
D. Portora Royal School in Enniskillen

D. Portora Royal School in Enniskillen
He attended this boarding school in Northern Ireland from age 14.

17. What did Beckett famously say about his own disposition?

A. “I was born to write.”
B. “I had little talent for happiness.”
C. “Life is a struggle.”
D. “The stage is my true home.”

B. “I had little talent for happiness.”
This quote reflects the often bleak and melancholic tone found in his life and work.

18. Which famous writer did Beckett meet and admire in Paris in 1926?

A. Marcel Proust
B. James Joyce
C. René Descartes
D. Jean Anouilh

B. James Joyce
He became part of Joyce’s circle during his time as a lecturer in Paris and was deeply influenced by him.

19. What was the title of Beckett’s prize-winning poem from 1927?

A. “Echo’s Bones”
B. “Murphy”
C. “Eleutheria”
D. “Whoroscope”

D. “Whoroscope”
This complex poem, focusing on René Descartes, won a small literary prize.

20. What did Beckett’s study of Proust lead him to believe was the “cancer of time”?

A. Love
B. Habit
C. Memory
D. Waiting

B. Habit
In his essay Proust (1931), he explored how habit dulls perception and the experience of time.

21. What happened to Beckett shortly after he moved permanently to Paris?

A. He published his first major novel.
B. He met his future wife.
C. He was stabbed in the street.
D. He joined the French Resistance.

C. He was stabbed in the street.
In early 1938, he was nearly killed after being stabbed by a pimp. James Joyce helped arrange his medical care.

22. What movement did Beckett join in Paris during World War II?

A. The Surrealist movement
B. The Irish Red Cross
C. The underground resistance movement
D. The Free French forces

C. The underground resistance movement
He worked as a courier for the French Resistance until his cell was betrayed.

23. When was Beckett forced to flee to the unoccupied zone of France?

A. 1939
B. 1942
C. 1944
D. 1945

B. 1942
After his Resistance group was compromised, he and Suzanne Deschevaux-Dumesnil fled Paris.

24. What role did Beckett take on for the Irish Red Cross in 1945?

A. Agricultural laborer
B. Interpreter in a military hospital
C. Teacher
D. Playwright-in-residence

B. Interpreter in a military hospital
After the liberation of France, he briefly worked at an Irish Red Cross hospital in Saint-Lô.

25. What award did Beckett receive in 1945 for his resistance work?

A. The Legion of Honour
B. The Nobel Prize
C. The Croix de Guerre
D. The Order of Merit

C. The Croix de Guerre
The French government awarded him this military decoration for his bravery during the war.

26. Which of the following was NOT one of Beckett’s pinnacle novels?

A. Molloy
B. The Unnamable
C. Malone Dies
D. Murphy

D. Murphy
Murphy (1938) was his first published novel, written in English, preceding the famous French trilogy (Molloy, Malone Dies, The Unnamable).

27. What was the title of Samuel Beckett’s first play?

A. Waiting for Godot
B. Eleutheria
C. Endgame
D. Krapp’s Last Tape

B. Eleutheria
Written in 1947 but published posthumously, Eleutheria (Freedom) predates Godot.

28. When did “Waiting for Godot” premiere, launching Beckett to world fame?

A. 1949
B. January 5, 1953
C. April 3, 1957
D. 1961

B. January 5, 1953
Its Paris premiere was a landmark event in 20th-century theatre.

29. How many performances did “Waiting for Godot” run for at the Theatre de Babylone?

A. Four hundred
B. Two hundred
C. Three hundred
D. One hundred

A. Four hundred
Its surprisingly long initial run indicated its powerful impact on audiences.

30. Which American dramatist said “Waiting for Godot” would make it easier for others to write freely?

A. Tennessee Williams
B. William Saroyan
C. Arthur Miller
D. Thornton Wilder

B. William Saroyan
Saroyan recognized the play’s liberating effect on theatrical conventions.

31. In what unique setting was “Waiting for Godot” performed for convicts in 1957?

A. A mental asylum
B. The San Quentin penitentiary
C. A remote desert camp
D. An army barracks

B. The San Quentin penitentiary
This famous performance demonstrated the play’s unexpected resonance with marginalized audiences.

32. Why did Beckett believe writing in French was more disciplined?

A. It was his native language.
B. It forced him to use the language more wisely.
C. It allowed him to reach a wider audience.
D. He enjoyed the challenge.

B. It forced him to use the language more wisely.
He felt writing in a non-native language helped him avoid stylistic excess and focus on essentials.

33. What prestigious award did Samuel Beckett receive in 1969?

A. The Pulitzer Prize
B. The Booker Prize
C. The Nobel Prize for Literature
D. The Tony Award

C. The Nobel Prize for Literature
He was awarded the Nobel for his significant contributions to literature.

34. What did Beckett remark about each word he wrote late in his life?

A. They were a testament to his struggle.
B. They were echoes of the human condition.
C. They seemed “an unnecessary stain on silence and nothingness.”
D. They were insufficient to express true meaning.

C. They seemed “an unnecessary stain on silence and nothingness.”
This quote reflects his late minimalist style and preoccupation with silence and failure.

35. When did Samuel Beckett die?

A. 1957
B. 1969
C. 1989
D. 1992

C. 1989
He died on December 22, 1989, in Paris.

36. What did Samuel Beckett do with his Nobel Prize money?

A. He invested it in new theatre productions.
B. He used it to fund his travels.
C. He gave it away.
D. He kept it for his retirement.

C. He gave it away.
Known for his generosity and dislike of fame, he quietly donated the prize money, mostly to fellow artists.

37. Why did Beckett decline to go to Stockholm to accept his Nobel Prize?

A. He was too ill to travel.
B. He preferred to remain anonymous.
C. To avoid the public speech.
D. He had a prior engagement.

C. To avoid the public speech.
His intense aversion to publicity and public speaking led him to send his publisher, Jérôme Lindon, instead.

38. Which French author did Beckett write essays about before the war?

A. Albert Camus
B. Jean-Paul Sartre
C. Marcel Proust
D. André Gide

C. Marcel Proust
His critical study Proust (1931) was an early significant publication.

39. What was the subject of Beckett’s 1938 novel “Murphy”?

A. A man waiting for an unknown entity.
B. An Irishman in London escaping to a life of contemplation.
C. A woman struggling with existential dread.
D. A poet’s journey through European capitals.

B. An Irishman in London escaping to a life of contemplation.
The novel follows the titular character’s attempts to withdraw from the world into his own mind.

40. Which of Beckett’s novels was not published until 1953?

A. Molloy
B. Malone Dies
C. Watt
D. The Unnamable

C. Watt
Written in English during the war while hiding in Roussillon, Watt had difficulty finding a publisher.

41. Who was Suzanne Deschevaux-Dumesnil?

A. His literary agent
B. His translator
C. His lifelong companion and later wife
D. His sister

C. His lifelong companion and later wife
She fled Paris with Beckett during the war and they married in 1961.

42. Beckett’s philosophical influences included Dante, Joyce, and whom?

A. Friedrich Nietzsche and Arthur Schopenhauer
B. René Descartes and Arnold Geulincx
C. Plato and Aristotle
D. Baruch Spinoza and Gottfried Leibniz

B. René Descartes and Arnold Geulincx
His interest in Cartesian dualism and occasionalism is evident in his work.

43. What is a fundamental misconception about Beckett’s work?

A. That it is overly intellectual.
B. That it is concerned primarily with the sordid side of human existence.
C. That it is too optimistic.
D. That it is difficult to understand.

B. That it is concerned primarily with the sordid side of human existence.
Critics argue that beyond the bleakness, his work contains compassion, resilience, and dark humor.

44. The trilogy of novels (Molloy, Malone Dies, The Unnamable) raises the problem of what?

A. The identity of society
B. The identity of God
C. The identity of the human self
D. The identity of language

C. The identity of the human self
These novels relentlessly explore the instability and elusiveness of personal identity.

45. Which of Beckett’s plays contains only 121 words?

A. Rockaby
B. Acts Without Words
C. Eh Joe!
D. Come and Go

D. Come and Go
This exemplifies his later move towards extreme minimalism in theatre.

46. When did Beckett’s second masterpiece, “Endgame,” premiere?

A. 1961
B. 1967
C. January 5, 1953
D. April 3, 1957

D. April 3, 1957
Fin de partie (Endgame) premiered (in French) at the Royal Court Theatre in London.

47. Where did “Waiting for Godot” first premiere?

A. Abbey Theatre in Dublin
B. Theatre de Babylone in Paris
C. Royal Court Theatre in London
D. San Quentin penitentiary

B. Theatre de Babylone in Paris
The play’s world premiere took place in this small Parisian theatre.

48. At what age did Beckett write an essay defending James Joyce?

A. 20
B. 30
C. 23
D. 25

C. 23
His essay “Dante… Bruno. Vico.. Joyce” appeared in the collection Our Exagmination Round His Factification for Incamination of Work in Progress in 1929.

49. What languages did Beckett primarily write in during the 1930s and 1940s?

A. English
B. German
C. French
D. Italian

A. English
His early works like Murphy, Watt, and Echo’s Bones were written in English before his major shift to French.

50. At what age did Beckett enroll at Portora Royal School?

A. 12
B. 16
C. 14
D. 10

C. 14
He began attending the boarding school in 1920.

Molloy MCQs

1. Where is Molloy residing at the beginning of the novel?

A. Seaside cave
B. Forest ditch
C. Mother’s old room
D. Police station

C. Mother’s old room.
Molloy states clearly in the opening line that he is now living in his mother’s room.

2. Who visits Molloy weekly to collect the pages he writes?

A. A kind doctor
B. A queer man
C. A strange policeman
D. A relative

B. A queer man.
A “queer one” comes every Sunday, pays Molloy money, and takes away the pages he has written.

3. How does Molloy describe his beginning, which the visiting man criticized?

A. Difficult but necessary
B. Like an old ballocks
C. Beside the point
D. Easy and rewarding

B. Like an old ballocks.
Molloy recounts his beginning, which the visiting man criticized, saying he began at the beginning “like an old ballocks”.

4. What has Molloy forgotten how to do, among other things?

A. How to work
B. How to walk
C. How to speak
D. How to spell

D. How to spell.
Molloy notes that he has forgotten how to spell, along with “half the words,” but is told it doesn’t matter.

5. What body part does Molloy use to signal “money” to his deaf mother?

A. Index-knuckle
B. His elbow
C. Fist thump
D. His foot

C. Fist thump.
Molloy found he could effectively convey the idea of money by using one or more thumps of his fist on her skull.

6. Who does Molloy see going towards each other on a bare road?

A. Gaber and Youdi
B. A dog and a cow
C. A and C
D. Two women

C. A and C.
Molloy observed two men, designated A (small) and C (tall), sauntering towards one another on the road.

7. What item of clothing did the tall man (C) with the stick wear?

A. A cocked hat
B. Hobnailed boots
C. Sand-shoes
D. A blue cap

A. A cocked hat.
Molloy remembers being struck by the fact that the man with the stick (C) wore a cocked hat.

8. Where was Molloy observing the two men (A and C) from?

A. Behind a hedge
B. Sitting on a wall
C. A high rock
D. Mother’s window

C. A high rock.
Molloy was perched higher than the road’s highest point, hiding flattened against a rock of the same colour.

9. What type of vehicle did Molloy use to travel to his mother?

A. A motorized cart
B. An old car
C. A chainless bicycle
D. An old cart

C. A chainless bicycle.
Molloy found his green, chainless bicycle on the road, which he rode using only one leg.

10. What item did Molloy fasten to his buttonhole with a lace?

A. His greatcoat
B. His hat
C. His crutch
D. His button

B. His hat.
Molloy realized his hat was always fastened to his greatcoat’s buttonhole by a long lace.

11. Why did the policeman at the ramparts stop Molloy?

A. Riding too fast
B. Having no papers
C. Resting indecently
D. Carrying a club

C. Resting indecently.
The policeman claimed Molloy’s posture when resting astride his bicycle violated public order or decency.

12. What items did Molloy carry as ‘papers’?

A. Written pages
B. Newspaper bits
C. Identity cards
D. Birth certificate

B. Newspaper bits.
Molloy carried bits of newspaper in his pocket for the specific purpose of wiping himself after a stool.

13. What name did Molloy suddenly remember while at the police station?

A. Dan
B. Jacques
C. Molloy
D. Mollose

C. Molloy.
During questioning by the sergeant, Molloy suddenly recalled and shouted out his name: Molloy.

14. What did the woman offer Molloy in the guard-room?

A. Tea and bread
B. Water and fruit
C. Soup and milk
D. Beer and a cigar

A. Tea and bread.
A woman, possibly a social worker, offered Molloy a thick slab of bread and a “greyish concoction”.

15. What did Molloy fling away from him in a panic in the guard-room?

A. His crutches
B. The provided food
C. His paper napkin
D. His cigar

B. The provided food.
Molloy, overcome by panic, threw the mug of liquid and the sodden bread to the ground.

16. What was Molloy’s immediate goal after being released by the police?

A. To find shelter
B. To see his son
C. To find his mother
D. To write more pages

C. To find his mother.
Molloy resolved to go and see his mother after waking up, driven by urgent reasons.

17. What philosophical term did Molloy credit anthropology with?

A. Defining humanity
B. Inexhaustible negation
C. Explaining love
D. Promoting magic

B. Inexhaustible negation.
Molloy liked anthropology for its ability to define man through its “inexhaustible faculty of negation”.

18. What prevents Molloy from remembering the name of his town?

A. Icy words
B. Memory loss
C. Being unable
D. Too many towns

C. Being unable.
Molloy implies that the difficulty of naming and knowing, coupled with time away from words, hindered him.

19. What accident occurred after Molloy perfected his plan to ask the town name?

A. A sudden fall
B. Lost his money
C. Ran over a dog
D. Saw a friend

C. Ran over a dog.
Molloy’s resolution to ask the name of the town was immediately thwarted when his bicycle ran over a dog.

20. What was the name of the dog Molloy killed?

A. Molloy
B. Teddy
C. Baby Jack
D. Zulu

B. Teddy.
The dog that Molloy ran over was named Teddy, whom his mistress, Lousse, adored.

21. Why did Lousse not insist on prosecuting Molloy for the dog’s death?

A. Teddy was suffering
B. Molloy ran fast
C. She loved him
D. He was too old

A. Teddy was suffering.
Lousse stated she was already taking Teddy to be put down because he was old, crìppled, and incontinent.

22. What kind of tree did Lousse choose for the dog’s grave?

A. A sturdy pine
B. A tall oak
C. A larch
D. A weeping willow

C. A larch.
Molloy notes that the dog was buried beneath a larch tree, which he could identify with certainty.

23. What did Lousse’s parrot repeatedly exclaim?

A. Pretty Polly
B. Fuck the son
C. Come here, lady
D. Putain de merde

D. Putain de merde.
The parrot often repeated, “Fuck the son of a bitch,” and “Putain de merde!” suggesting connections to sailors.

24. What change did Molloy discover had been done to him while he slept at Lousse’s house?

A. They dyed his hair
B. They shaved his beard
C. They stole his money
D. They removed his shoes

B. They shaved his beard.
Molloy woke up to discover that his scant beard had been shaved off while he was asleep.

25. What plant did Molloy identify that Lousse loved because of its smell?

A. Wild hawthorn
B. Spike-lavender
C. Lemon-verbena
D. Night-blooming jasmine

B. Spike-lavender.
Molloy identified the heavily scented flower in Lousse’s garden as spike-lavender, which she loved.

26. What analogy did Molloy use to describe his life while staying with Lousse?

A. Air in a pipe
B. Boiling water
C. Silent song
D. Fading forms

A. Air in a pipe.
Molloy says that the period of his life spent with Lousse reminds him of “air in a water-pipe”.

27. What classic thinker did Molloy reference regarding the concept of freedom?

A. Socrates
B. Plato
C. Geulincx
D. Descartes

C. Geulincx.
Molloy mentions loving the image of old Geulincx, who left him free to crawl towards the East.

28. What was the name of the woman who acquainted Molloy with “love”?

A. Martha
B. Ruth
C. Sophie
D. Mag

B. Ruth.
Molloy recalls a woman named Ruth, whom he thinks may have been Edith, who introduced him to love.

29. Where did Molloy and Ruth (or Edith) first meet?

A. In a forest
B. By the sea
C. A rubbish dump
D. On a couch

C. A rubbish dump.
Molloy states that they met in a rubbish dump, where she initiated their sexual interaction.

30. What did Molloy say was never enough and always too much?

A. The food
B. His silence
C. What he said
D. The pain

C. What he said.
Molloy reflects that whatever he said, it was never enough and always too much; he was never silent.

31. What bodily need did Molloy sacrifice when devising his stone-sucking system?

A. Perfect symmetry
B. Less fatigue
C. The need for trim
D. A good appetite

C. The need for trim.
Molloy sacrificed the principle of trim (equal weight distribution) in his pockets to methodically suck all 16 stones.

32. How many sucking-stones did Molloy initially gather?

A. Eight stones
B. Sixteen stones
C. Four stones
D. Twelve stones

B. Sixteen stones.
Molloy took advantage of being at the seaside to gather a “considerable store” of sixteen sucking-stones.

33. What was Molloy’s final decision regarding his sucking-stones?

A. Throw all but one
B. Keep all 16
C. Number the stones
D. Divide them equally

A. Throw all but one.
Molloy’s ultimate solution was to throw away all the stones except one, which he soon lost.

34. What animal was Molloy likened to when rolling to collect his keys?

A. A mangy cur
B. A great cylinder
C. A frightened sheep
D. A large stone

B. A great cylinder.
Molloy describes rolling over and over “like a great cylinder” to reach keys scattered on the ground.

35. What method of locomotion did Molloy finally adopt when his legs stiffened?

A. Rolling in a barrel
B. Crawling like a reptile
C. Using a donkey
D. Lying in a cart

B. Crawling like a reptile.
Molloy adopted crawling on his belly, using his crutches like grapnels, moving like a reptile.

36. What sound did Molloy hear in the forest instead of the expected murmurs?

A. Distant gong
B. Hunting horn
C. Crying birds
D. Shepherd’s whistle

A. Distant gong.
Molloy was disappointed, hearing only, at long intervals, a distant gong instead of the famous forest murmurs.

37. What type of man did Molloy encounter and subsequently strike in the forest?

A. A passing hermit
B. A sly farmer
C. A worried hunter
D. A charcoal-burner

D. A charcoal-burner.
Molloy encountered a charcoal-burner who begged him to share his hut, but Molloy struck him and kicked him.

38. What is the narrator’s name in the second half of the novel?

A. Jacques
B. Gaber
C. Moran
D. Molloy

C. Moran.
The second part begins with the narrator stating his name is Moran, Jacques, confirming his identity.

39. What is Moran’s son’s name?

A. Molloy
B. Jacques
C. Teddy
D. Gaber

B. Jacques.
Moran states that his son is also named Jacques, noting that this “cannot lead to confusion”.

40. What was Moran doing when he received the order concerning Molloy?

A. Sitting in church
B. Sitting in the garden
C. Reading a report
D. Sleeping in bed

B. Sitting in the garden.
Moran was sitting contentedly in his little garden on a Sunday morning, before the messenger arrived.

41. Who delivered the mission instructions to Moran?

A. Youdi
B. Martha
C. Father Ambrose
D. Gaber

D. Gaber.
Gaber, identified as a messenger, traveled from afar to deliver the instructions for the Molloy affair to Moran.

42. Who is Moran ordered to find?

A. His missing wife
B. Molloy
C. Gaber
D. The Antichrist

B. Molloy.
Moran received the specific order to “see about Molloy” on a Sunday morning in summer.

43. Who is Moran’s superior?

A. Youdi
B. The Sergeant
C. Gaber
D. Father Ambrose

A. Youdi.
Moran refers to his employer, whom he suspects of fostering illusions, by the name Youdi, the source of his assignments.

44. What was young Jacques’s hobby?

A. History
B. Gardening
C. Collecting stamps
D. Scout activities

C. Collecting stamps.
Moran’s son had two albums, a large one for his main collection and a smaller one for duplicates.

45. What is the name of the servant?

A. Ruth
B. Martha
C. Sophie
D. Hannah

B. Martha.
The woman who works in Moran’s house, often found rocking moodily in her chair, is Martha.

46. How did Moran see himself early on?

A. A frantic seeker
B. A solid in solids
C. A watery form
D. A free spirit

B. A solid in solids.
Moran states that in moments of lucidity, he saw himself as “a solid in the midst of other solids”.

47. What vehicle did Moran initially choose?

A. The train
B. On foot
C. His autocycle
D. A bicycle

C. His autocycle.
Moran decided to leave on his autocycle because he was “partial to this way of getting about”.

48. Where is Molloy’s country located?

A. In the mountains
B. In the north
C. In the south
D. By the swamp

B. In the north.
The Molloy country, Ballyba, is situated to the north, in relation to Moran’s region (Turdyba).

49. What geographical feature is Ballyba’s main beauty?

A. Wide sandy plains
B. A slow grey creek
C. Towering forests
D. Large waterfalls

B. A slow grey creek.
The principal beauty of the Ballyba region is a strangled creek that the slow grey tides empty and fill.

50. What bicycle feature was crucial?

A. Durable paint
B. A strong carrier
C. A loud bell
D. Working brakes

B. A strong carrier.
Moran specifically instructed his son to buy a bicycle with a “powerful carrier”.

Brief Overview

Molloy is a novel by Samuel Beckett, first published in French in 1951. It is a seminal work of modernist literature and the Theatre of the Absurd. The novel explores themes of existentialism, the futility of human existence, and the nature of identity.

The novel is structurally divided into two long sections, which mirror and contradict each other. The first section is the story of Molloy, a críppled man. He lives in his mother’s room, though he has no memory of how he arrived there. He writes pages for an unnamed man who pays him money.

Molloy narrates his painful journey before arriving in the room. He initially used crutches and a bicycle while searching for his mother, Mag.

On his way, Molloy encounters a policeman and is briefly taken to a station. He later runs over a woman’s dog with his bicycle. The owner, Lousse, makes Molloy stay at her house for a time.

Molloy eventually leaves. As he travelled, his legs became painfully stiff and short, forcing him to crawl on his belly until he ended up in a ditch.

Moran, an agent, writes the second section. His boss, Youdi, orders him to find Molloy. Moran takes his young son, Jacques, on this futile mission. Moran’s own leg mysteriously becomes stiff and painful, mirroring Molloy’s condition. He sends his son to buy a bicycle.

Moran’s son later runs away completely, taking the bicycle and money. Moran grows weak from hunger. A messenger, Gaber, tells him to go home immediately.

Moran returns to his empty house in pain and is now writing his report for Youdi, using crutches just as Molloy did.