Q 01/05

Which Texas-born actor played the menacing Abner Snopes in the 1980 film of Barn Burning?

A) Kris Kristofferson

B) Powers Boothe

C) Tommy Lee Jones

D) Gary Busey

Answer · why

C) Tommy Lee Jones

Tommy Lee Jones took the role for a PBS adaptation directed by Peter Werner, more than a decade before The Fugitive won him an Oscar.

Q 02/05

In Barn Burning, what does Abner Snopes deliberately track across Major de Spain's expensive rug?

A) Manure

B) Red clay mud

C) Axle grease

D) Wet ashes

Answer · why

A) Manure

Manure clings to his boot because he steps in it on purpose, then ignores the house servant's order to wipe his feet before walking in.

Q 03/05

In what kind of building is Abner Snopes put on trial at the opening of Barn Burning?

A) A country church

B) A general store

C) A cotton gin

D) A schoolhouse

Answer · why

B) A general store

A general store serves as the Justice of the Peace's hearing room, so the hungry boy sits through the trial surrounded by food he cannot have.

Q 04/05

Abner Snopes limps in Barn Burning because a Confederate musket ball hit which part of his body?

A) His kneecap

B) His hip

C) His thigh

D) His heel

Answer · why

D) His heel

His heel was hit thirty years before the story opens, which places the action about three decades after the Civil War.

Q 05/05

Which Japanese novelist reused the title Barn Burning for a story in his book The Elephant Vanishes?

A) Haruki Murakami

B) Yasunari Kawabata

C) Yukio Mishima

D) Kenzaburo Oe

Answer · why

A) Haruki Murakami

Haruki Murakami's story was the main source for the 2018 film Burning, which also wove in elements of Faulkner's tale.