Me, Myself and I - First Person Narratives Quiz

Answer: "To Kill A Mockingbird" (Harper Lee)

"To Kill a Mockingbird" was published in 1960 and won a Pulitzer Prize in 1961. The character of Jean Louise ("Scout") Finch is the narrator of the story. In 1962, it was made into a movie starring Gregory Peck as Atticus Finch and Mary Badham as Scout. It was Harper's Lee's only novel for 55 years until the publication of the sequel, "Go Set a Watchman", in 2015.

Answer: "Moby Dick" (Herman Melville)

Ishmael is the narrator of Herman Melville's classic tale "Moby Dick", first published in 1851 under the title "The Whale". Ishmael is the only sailor to survive the sinking of the Pequod by Moby Dick. In 1956, this novel was made into a movie starring Gregory Peck as Captain Ahab, the central character, and Richard Basehart as Ishmael.

Answer: "Wuthering Heights" (Emily Bronte)

Mr Lockwood is Heathcliff's tenant at Thrushcross Grange. The strange story of Cathy and Heathcliff is related to Mr Lockwood by the housekeeper, Nelly Dean, who had been in service at both Thrushcross Grange and Wuthering Heights.

Answer: Nick Carraway ("The Great Gatsby")

Nick Carraway is the narrator in the F. Scott Fitzgerald novel, "The Great Gatsby". Seen through his eyes, most of the characters in this novel represent all that is dishonest and immoral. None of the other three novels are written in the first person narrative.

Answer: Two

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle wrote 56 short stories and 4 novellas about Sherlock Holmes. All but four are narrated by Dr Watson. "The Blanched Soldier" and "The Lion's Mane" are the two stories narrated by Sherlock Holmes. "His Last Bow" and "The Mazarin Stone" are written in the third person.

Answer: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

"The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" is narrated by the title character. Huck introduces himself as Tom Sawyer's friend from "...a book by the name of 'The Adventures of Tom Sawyer'...That book was made by Mr Mark Twain, and he told the truth, mainly. There was things which he stretched, but mainly he told the truth".

Answer: "Jane Eyre" (Charlotte Bronte)

This Charlotte Bronte novel was loosely based on real events and the character of Jane Eyre was based upon Charlotte herself. When Charlotte was a governess, she visited two properties which were associated with legends of a mad woman locked away upstairs. One of these properties belonged to a family named Eyre. According to their legend, the poor woman subsequently perished in a fire.

Answer: Claudius

"I, Claudius" by Robert Graves is a fiction-based-on-fact novel, supposedly narrated by the Roman Emperor Claudius, who ruled Rome from 41 to 54 AD. Because of his physical disabilities (his stammer and lameness), Claudius was an embarrassment to his family who generally considered him to be an "idiot".

However, in reality, Claudius was a highly educated and resourceful man and he proved to be an excellent ruler.

Answer: "Frankenstein" (Mary Shelley)

"Frankenstein" was published anonymously in 1818. It was subtitled "The Modern Prometheus". Many people erroneously think the name Frankenstein refers to the Monster, but the Monster is never named. Dr Victor Frankenstein, who creates the Monster, is the Modern Prometheus.

Answer: Dr James Sheppard

This novel is now considered to be a landmark in mystery and detective fiction because the narrator turned out to be the murderer. Such a device had never been employed before in a "whodunnit". In her autobiography, Christie credits her brother-in-law, James Watts, and Lord Louis Mountbatten for the idea.

When it was published in 1926, there were many who criticised this device as being "a dirty trick" but in Christie's opinion, the clues were all there: "Dr Sheppard, in writing it down, took great pleasure himself in writing nothing but the truth, though not the whole truth".