Q 01/05

Which kitchen tool does Dmitri Karamazov snatch up as he runs to his father's house that night?

A) A brass pestle

B) A meat cleaver

C) A rolling pin

D) A carving knife

Answer · why

A) A brass pestle

A brass pestle, little more than six inches long, goes into his pocket as he bolts from Grushenka's kitchen. The maid who sees him grab it is soon tel...

Q 02/05

In what guise does the devil visit Ivan Karamazov in a feverish hallucination before the trial?

A) A hooded friar

B) A shabby gentleman

C) A black poodle

D) A crippled old beggar

Answer · why

B) A shabby gentleman

A shabby gentleman of about fifty, in a brownish jacket years out of fashion, turns up on Ivan's sofa. He talks like a poor relation who lives by visi...

Q 03/05

Which scandal after the death of the revered elder Zosima shakes the faith of Alyosha Karamazov?

A) His cell is found looted

B) His diary reveals doubts

C) His body quickly decays

D) His relics are stolen

Answer · why

C) His body quickly decays

His body quickly decays, and a smell rises from the coffin within a day, when the town expected a holy man's remains to stay incorrupt. His rivals in ...

Q 04/05

In Ivan Karamazov's poem The Grand Inquisitor, which city sees Christ return during the Inquisition?

A) Toledo

B) Valencia

C) Madrid

D) Seville

Answer · why

D) Seville

Seville is where he walks the hot pavements a day after almost a hundred heretics were burned. The crowd knows him at once, and the old cardinal has h...

Q 05/05

How does the silent prisoner answer the Grand Inquisitor's long accusation in Ivan Karamazov's poem?

A) With a single tear

B) With a blessing

C) With a kiss

D) With a bow

Answer · why

C) With a kiss

With a kiss on the old man's bloodless lips, and not one word. The Inquisitor shudders, opens the cell door and tells him to go; Ivan is delighted whe...