SparkNotes: Silas Marner: Quiz

1. Why are weavers typically objects of suspicion in Silas’s day?

(A) They are seen as doing womanly work

(B) They are rootless and have specialized knowledge

(C) They wear only linen clothing

(D) They have bad eyesight

2. How does Silas know about herbal medicine?

(A) His mother taught him

(B) It was part of the training from his religious sect in Lantern Yard

(C) He has read up on the topic

(D) He doesn’t, he only pretends to

3. What is dropsy?

(A) A part of a loom

(B) A traditional British breakfast drink

(C) The name of Silas’s pet bunny rabbit

(D) A disease that causes abnormal swelling in the body

4. Why doesn’t Silas protest his innocence when he is framed for theft?

(A) He is not allowed to speak

(B) He is having a cataleptic fit at the time

(C) He believes God will clear him

(D) He believes he actually did steal the money while having a cataleptic fit

5. During the period in his life when all he does is work and hoard money, Silas is likened to:

(A) A spider

(B) A narrow, nearly dried-up rivulet

(C) A handle or crooked tube

(D) All of the above

6. From where does Godfrey obtain the one hundred pounds that he lends Dunsey?

(A) The sale of Godfrey’s horse, Wildfire

(B) The rent paid by one of the Squire’s tenants

(C) Money that Godfrey had set aside to give his wife, Molly

(D) Godfrey’s winnings at cards

7. Why does Godfrey put up with Dunsey’s bullying?

(A) Dunsey can beat him up

(B) Dunsey has threatened to expose Godfrey’s secret marriage

(C) Godfrey is trying to set an example of good Christian forbearance

(D) Godfrey is a masochist and enjoys abuse

8. Why does Dunsey almost turn around and return home before he gets to the hunt?

(A) He thinks of the idea of bullying Silas into lending money to Godfrey

(B) He wants Godfrey to have to admit to the Squire where the missing money went

(C) He has forgotten his riding whip

(D) He gets cold feet

9. Where does Silas go when he finds his gold missing?

(A) The church

(B) Dolly Winthrop’s house

(C) The Rainbow

(D) The Red House

10. What is a farrier?

(A) A species of large fox

(B) A rank of cavalry officer

(C) Someone who shoes horses and generally tends to livestock diseases

(D) A knot used to tie off a piece of linen

11. To whom does everyone in town suspect the mysterious tinder-box belongs?

(A) Silas

(B) Jem Rodney

(C) The peddler

(D) Mr. Lammeter

12. What do Mr. Crackenthorp, Mr. Macey, and Dolly Winthrop all suggest when they come to visit Silas after he loses his money?

(A) That he take up a collection

(B) That he lock his door

(C) That he go to church

(D) That he adopt a child

13. Why does Nancy arrive at the New Year’s dance resolved to reject Godfrey?

(A) Her father does not approve of him

(B) She finds him lacking in character

(C) He has mocked her strict code of behavior

(D) He has been too forward with her

14. Why is Molly Farren coming to the New Year’s dance?

(A) She wants to announce her and Godfrey’s marriage to everyone there

(B) She thinks she can win Godfrey’s love by dancing with him

(C) She wants to apologize to Godfrey for something she has said

(D) She wants her daughter to be adopted by Godfrey and Nancy

15. Why do Nancy and Priscilla wear the same dress to the New Year’s dance?

(A) Because Priscilla wants to look like Nancy

(B) Because they are going to perform a duet

(C) It is purely by accident

(D) Because Nancy insists that sisters should dress identically

16. How is Eppie able to enter Silas’s cottage so easily?

(A) Silas is out on an errand and has left the door open

(B) The door is locked, but she climbs through the window

(C) Silas is holding the door open and is in the midst of one of his fits

(D) She comes in the back door, which has no lock

17. What is Silas’s first thought when he notices that the mass of gold on his hearth is in fact a baby girl?

(A) That he should lock his door

(B) That he will adopt the little girl

(C) That the little girl’s mother can’t be far away

(D) That the little girl is his dead sister, coming back to him in a dream

18. What does Silas attempt to do to discipline Eppie?

(A) Read her long passages from the Bible

(B) Spank her

(C) Tie her to the loom

(D) Put her in the coal-hole

19. Why doesn’t Godfrey go by the title of Squire?

(A) His father’s property was divided up at his death and therefore Godfrey did not inherit the title

(B) He finds it pretentious

(C) Squire was actually his father’s first name

(D) Nancy cannot pronounce it

20. What is Godfrey’s role in Eppie’s life?

(A) He takes her on walks

(B) He helps pay for things and donates furniture

(C) He reads her bedtime stories

(D) He tells her about her mother

21. Why does Nancy refuse for so long to adopt Eppie?

(A) She dislikes children

(B) She thinks Godfrey will love Eppie more than he loves her

(C) She thinks it is wrong for Godfrey and her to have something that fate has denied them

(D) She suspects that Eppie is Godfrey’s child and wants him to be punished

22. What prompts Godfrey to confess his secret?

(A) He finds out that he is terminally ill

(B) Dunsey’s remains are discovered in the drained stone-pit

(C) He gets drunk

(D) All of the above

23. When Godfrey confesses to Eppie that he is her father, what is her reaction?

(A) She is repulsed by him and has no desire to leave Silas for him

(B) She is tempted by the life he offers but decides to stay with Silas nonetheless

(C) She is angry with him, primarily for having abandoned her mother

(D) She sympathizes with Nancy for having married such a coward

24. Why does Silas decide to return to Lantern Yard for a visit?

(A) He is looking for work

(B) He wants to find out if he was ever cleared of theft, and to ask his old minister about the drawing of the lots

(C) He wants Eppie to see where he grew up

(D) He wants to show his former sect that he has succeeded in spite of his excommunication

25. What is Nancy’s reaction to Godfrey’s confession that he had a previous marriage and child?

(A) She leaves him for Dunsey

(B) She pretends not to hear him

(C) She expresses regret that he didn’t tell her sooner, so they could have adopted Eppie

(D) She says that she would never have married him if she had known