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.

Watt MCQs

1. Where did Mr Hackett first see the occupied seat?

A. Corner, failing light
B. Rail, near tram
C. Park, dark night
D. House, front yard

A. Corner, failing light.
Hackett saw his accustomed seat occupied at the corner in the dim evening light.

2. What activity were the couple in the seat engaged in?

A. Reading poems
B. Waiting for the tram
C. Showing affection
D. Eating dinner

C. Showing affection.
The gentleman and lady were kissing and touching, suggesting tired of waiting for the tram.

3. What item was dangling limply from the gentleman’s hand?

A. Full cigarette
B. Spent cigarette
C. Empty lighter
D. Stick and rail

B. Spent cigarette.
Mr Hackett saw the gentleman’s hand dangling over the seat back with a spent cigarette between fingers.

4. What term did Mr Hackett use to describe things that pleased him?

A. His property
B. Shared goods
C. Not his, but his
D. Municipality property

C. Not his, but his.
Hackett’s attitude was thinking of things that pleased him as his, though he knew they were not.

5. What nickname did the gentleman call Mr Hackett?

A. Mad Hackett
B. Hunchy Hackett
C. Dear Hackett
D. Old Hackett

B. Hunchy Hackett.
The passing gentleman identified him to his wife, saying, “Hunchy Hackett. On the seat”.

6. What item did the gentleman use so Mr Hackett could read?

A. Petrol-lighter
B. Matchbox
C. Electric torch
D. Tiny candle

A. Petrol-lighter.
The gentleman used his petrol lighter so Mr Hackett could read Grehan’s enclosed poem, “To Nelly”.

7. What occasion did Tetty describe to Mr Hackett?

A. Goff’s illness
B. Larry’s birth night
C. Grehan’s trial
D. Nixon’s marriage

B. Larry’s birth night.
Tetty insisted on telling Mr Hackett about the night their son Larry was born.

8. How did Tetty sever the umbilical cord for Larry?

A. Doctor’s scissors
B. Her teeth
C. Sharp stone
D. Across her knee

B. Her teeth.
Goff proudly mentioned that Tetty severed the cord with her teeth because she lacked scissors.

9. What age was Mr Hackett when he fell off a ladder?

A. Five
B. One
C. Fifteen
D. Forty

B. One.
Mr Hackett stated that he was one year old when he fell off the ladder in Glencullen.

10. How much money did Watt owe Mr Nixon?

A. Four shillings
B. Five shillings
C. Two and threepence
D. Six and ninepence

B. Five shillings.
Watt owed Goff (Mr Nixon) five shillings for the past seven years.

11. What distinctive feature did Mr Nixon grudgingly share about Watt?

A. Limped dreadfully
B. Huge big red nose
C. Wore clip-on ties
D. Excellent bowler

B. Huge big red nose.
After being pressed for details, Mr Nixon grudgingly mentioned that Watt “has a huge big red nose”.

12. What was the gentleman on the train named?

A. Mr Hackett
B. Mr Lowry
C. Mr Spiro
D. Mr Evans

C. Mr Spiro.
The large gentleman sitting diagonally opposite to Watt in the compartment introduced himself as Spiro.

13. What periodical did Mr Spiro edit?

A. The Catholic Weekly
B. The Popular Monthly
C. Crux, the monthly
D. Spiritual Syringe

C. Crux, the monthly.
Mr Spiro informed Watt that he edited Crux, which he described as the popular catholic monthly.

14. What question did Martin Ignatius MacKenzie’s letter ask about?

A. The Holy Family
B. A consecrated wafer
C. The eels of Como
D. Spiritual costiveness

B. A consecrated wafer.
MacKenzie’s letter posed questions regarding a rat eating a consecrated wafer.

15. How did Watt prefer to orient himself in the moving train?

A. Face the engine
B. Face the direction
C. Back to the destination
D. Back to driver

C. Back to the destination.
Watt preferred “to have his back to his destination” when the train moved.

16. What was Watt’s unique method of moving due east?

A. Bending his knees
B. Headlong tardigrade
C. Simple shuffling
D. North/south flinging

D. North/south flinging.
He advanced by turning his bust north and flinging his right leg south, then reversing.

17. What animal’s movements did Lady McCann compare to Watt’s head?

A. Bear turning
B. Dog trotting
C. Cat stalking
D. Goat butting

A. Bear turning.
Lady McCann wondered if she had read in Mr Walpole that baited bears turn their heads from side to side.

18. What did Lady McCann throw at Watt on the road?

A. Shoe
B. Stick
C. Stone
D. Parcel

C. Stone.
Lady McCann picked up a stone and threw it at Watt, striking his hat from his head.

19. Where did Watt roll himself over to rest near the road?

A. Into the ditch
B. On the grass
C. Against a tree
D. Behind a wall

A. Into the ditch.
Disliking the moon’s rays, Watt rolled himself over into the ditch to lie on his face.

20. What was visible just before Watt reached Mr Knott’s house?

A. A single light
B. Knott’s chimneys
C. The open gate
D. Lady McCann

B. Knott’s chimneys.
Watt advanced with awe when the chimneys of Mr Knott’s house finally became visible.

21. Who was the gentleman Watt met in the kitchen upon arrival?

A. Mr Knott
B. Walter
C. Vincent
D. Arsene

D. Arsene.
The gentleman who came into the kitchen wearing a green baize apron and later spoke to Watt was Arsene.

22. What garment did the man Watt meet in the kitchen wear?

A. Old dark coat
B. Fine full apron
C. Carpet slippers
D. Felt hat

B. Fine full apron.
The gentleman (Arsene) wore a fine full apron of green baize when he first entered the kitchen.

23. What did Arsene say he regretted exceedingly?

A. His failures
B. Everything
C. His life spent
D. The boil

B. Everything.
Arsene stated: “Personally, of course, I regret everything. Not a word, not a deed… that I do not regret, exceedingly”.

24. What laugh laughs at that which is unhappy?

A. Bitter laugh
B. Hollow laugh
C. Mirthless laugh
D. Ethical laugh

C. Mirthless laugh.
Arsene explained that the mirthless laugh (risus purus) is the laugh that laughs at that which is unhappy.

25. What type of items did Mary (the former housemaid) eat, turn and turn about?

A. Bread and butter
B. Meat and pastry
C. Onions and peppermints
D. Fish and stout

C. Onions and peppermints.
Mary would sit before a task and quietly eat onions and peppermints alternately.

26. Who were the two callers who came to tune the piano?

A. The Nixons
B. The Galls
C. Mr Graves
D. Mr Spiro

B. The Galls.
The piano tuners introduced themselves as “the Galls, father and son”.

27. What conclusion did the Galls reach about the piano?

A. Excellent condition
B. Doomed
C. Needs new strings
D. Only one damper

B. Doomed.
Mr Gall Junior declared, “The piano is doomed, in my opinion,” a sentiment Mr Gall Senior agreed with.

28. What effect did the Galls incident have on Watt’s need for meaning?

A. Felt tranquil
B. Sought another meaning
C. Accepted meaning
D. Forgot entirely

B. Sought another meaning.
The event’s lost literal meaning caused Watt to seek “some meaning of what had passed”.

29. What type of meaning did Watt seek for inexplicable incidents?

A. Real meaning
B. Coerced meaning
C. Simple truth
D. External symbol

B. Coerced meaning.
Watt inquired into what incidents “might be induced to mean” with ingenuity and patience.

30. What was the name Watt had trouble applying to Mr Knott’s kitchen object?

A. Kettle
B. Duster
C. Pot
D. Chair

C. Pot.
Looking at a specific object, Watt labored in vain to name it, saying, “it was not a pot at all”

31. How often was Mr Knott’s unique food dish prepared?

A. Daily
B. Weekly
C. Monthly
D. Annually

B. Weekly.
A sufficient quantity of food was prepared and cooked on Saturday night to last Mr Knott through the entire week.

32. What common items were mixed into Mr Knott’s dish?

A. Food, drink, physic
B. Meat, cheese, wine
C. Milk, water, spices
D. Eggs, fish, tea

A. Food, drink, physic.
The dish contained various foods, beverages, and medical items like insulin and digitalin.

33. What was the name of the large, impoverished family connected to the dog?

A. Sharpes
B. Brynes
C. Lynches
D. Nackybal

C. Lynches.
The solution to the dog-feeding problem involved securing the large needy local family named Lynch.

34. What was the dog’s name when Watt began service on the ground floor?

A. Cis
B. Larry
C. Kate
D. Joe

C. Kate.
The dog in service when Watt started on the ground floor was named Kate, the sixth dog used by the dwarves.

35. Who were the two small men who led the famished dog nightly?

A. Tom and Jack
B. Art and Con
C. Joe and Jim
D. Sean and Simon

B. Art and Con.
The twin dwarves Art and Con led the famished dog to the back door every evening.

36. Who was the fishwoman that Watt greatly liked?

A. Mrs Nixon
B. Mrs Gorman
C. Mrs Graves
D. Lady McCann

B. Mrs Gorman.
The fishwoman who called every Thursday and with whom Watt enjoyed physical closeness was Mrs Gorman.

37. What drink did Watt habitually share with the fishwoman?

A. Hot tea
B. Glass of milk
C. Stout
D. Brandy

C. Stout.
Watt would open a bottle of stout for Mrs Gorman every Thursday in the kitchen.

38. What was the probable reason Mrs Gorman and Watt never “coalesced”?

A. No privacy
B. Watt lacked strength
C. Mrs Gorman lacked time
D. Both lack/time force

D. Both lack/time force.
Watt lacked the necessary strength, and Mrs Gorman lacked the necessary time for perfunctory coalescence.

39. What did Mr Graves (the gardener) complain about to Watt?

A. Low wages
B. Bad harvest
C. Wife troubles
D. Old age

C. Wife troubles.
Mr Graves’s chief subject of conversation was his domestic troubles, specifically not getting along with his wife.

40. How did Mr Graves pronounce “third and fourth”?

A. Bird and forth
B. Turd and fart
C. Dirt and forth
D. Third and fourth

B. Turd and fart.
Watt noted that Mr Graves pronounced his ‘th’ charmingly, saying “Turd and fart” for “third and fourth”.

41. What was the most fixed item of furniture in Mr Knott’s room?

A. The tallboy
B. The round bed
C. The washhand-stand
D. The chairs

B. The round bed.
The bed was round and clamped to the ground, maintaining an “illusion of fixity”.

42. What was Mr Knott’s attitude when moving about the house?

A. Masterful stride
B. Fumbling unfamiliarity
C. Swift urgency
D. Determined progress

B. Fumbling unfamiliarity.
When moving, Mr Knott acted “as one unfamiliar with the premises,” fumbling at doors.

43. What was Mr Knott’s first conjecture of interest to Watt?

A. Need for food
B. Need to not need
C. Need for clothing
D. Need for solitude

B. Need to not need.
Mr Knott’s actions stemmed not from need, but from the “need never to need” anything.

44. How did Mr Knott wear his clothes to bed?

A. Removed all dayclothes
B. Over his dayclothes
C. Under his nightshirt
D. He slept nude

B. Over his dayclothes.
Mr Knott habitually went to bed with his nightclothes over his dayclothes.

45. What was the first stage of Watt’s language inversion observed by the narrator?

A. Sentences in reverse
B. Letters in reverse
C. Words in reverse
D. Words and letters

C. Words in reverse.
Watt first inverted the order of the words only, speaking “back to front”.

46. What type of reversal followed the word-order inversion?

A. Sentence order
B. Periods in reverse
C. Letters in reverse
D. Mixed syntax

C. Letters in reverse.
After simple word inversion, Watt began to invert “the order of the letters in the word”.

47. What did the narrator say was visible from Watt’s window?

A. Mr Knott’s face
B. A bustling town
C. A race-course
D. The distant sea

C. A race-course.
Watt’s dinghy compartment on the first floor commanded a wonderful view of a race-course.

48. Who did Watt encounter sitting in the kitchen upon his departure?

A. Mr Gorman
B. Micks
C. Arthur
D. Mr Nixon

B. Micks.
Watt found Micks sitting in the kitchen when he went down to drink his last glass of milk.

49. What items did Watt carry when leaving Mr Knott’s house?

A. Two large suitcases
B. Two small grousebags
C. A coat and hat
D. Food and water

B. Two small grousebags.
When leaving, Watt carried two small bags in his hands, which he called “grousebags”.

50. Where did Watt buy his mismatched boot and shoe?

A. City market
B. Found on the sea-shore
C. From a one-legged man
D. From Mr Knott

C. From a one-legged man.
Watt bought the boot for eight pence from a one-legged man after finding the shoe on the seashore.

Brief Overview

Watt is a novel by Samuel Beckett, first published in 1953. The novel is a key work of existentialism and the Theatre of the Absurd. It profoundly questions the limits of human knowledge, the absurdity of life, and the inherent difficulty of communication.

The novel begins with Mr Hackett observing a strange couple near his public seat. He then speaks with Mr and Mrs Nixon about a peculiar man named Watt. Watt is travelling by train to a new job. He meets Mr. Spiro, who talks cryptically about religion.

Watt arrives at Mr Knott’s large, dark house. He is there to replace the outgoing servant, Arsene, who delivers a confusing, long farewell speech. Watt works on the ground floor. Mr Knott eats a single, boiled meal twice a day.

Watt struggles to understand the house’s strange, arbitrary events. These include the Galls’ visit, during which they tune a broken piano. Watt also learns about the highly complex, logistical plan to ensure a hungry dog, managed by the Lynch family, eats Mr Knott’s leftovers. Watt finds it almost impossible to correctly name the objects he sees, even calling a pot “not a pot.”

Watt later moves upstairs. He learns that Mr Knott looks radically different every day, changing in height, weight, and colour. Watt concludes that Mr Knott only needs “not to need” anything, and he requires a witness to observe this state of self-cancellation.

Watt eventually leaves the house one night. He stops on the road and bursts into tears. He walks to the closed railway station. Watt buys a ticket to the “further end” of the line and leaves, a final, absurd action of movement without purpose