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Prisoners in Literature Trivia Quiz

Over the years, many books have featured prisoners, often as one of the main protagonists. This quiz looks at some of them

A multiple-choice quiz by sancho_pft. Estimated time: 4 mins.

Author
sancho_pft

Time
4 mins

Type
Multiple Choice

Quiz #
396,478

Updated
Dec 03 21

# Qns
10

Difficulty
Average

Avg Score
8 / 10

Plays
328

Awards
Top 20% Quiz

One at a Time - Single Page - Timed Game

Question 1 of 10

1. Prisoner 24601 is paroled, but breaks the terms of the parole, and goes on the run, pursued relentlessly by a dedicated policeman. Who is Prisoner 24601? Hint

Sidney Carton

Arnold Rimmer

Robert Stroud

Jean Valjean

NEXT>

Question 2 of 10

2. Dickens'sweeping novel "A Tale of Two Cities" opens with a cryptic message, 'recalled to life'. This message refers to the release, after 18 years in the Bastille, of which character? Hint

Jerry Cruncher

Charles Darney

Sydney Carton

Dr Alexandre Manette

NEXT>

Question 3 of 10

3. Henri Charriere wrote a brutally honest account of his 14 year sentence on the French Penal Colony of Devil's Island. What did he call the book? Hint

Papillon Epingle

Banco

Papillon

Dry Guillotine

NEXT>

Question 4 of 10

4. Shukov, a man unjustly sentenced to 10 years hard labour in a Soviet gulag, is the central character in what searing novel? Hint

The First Circle

The Gulag Archipelago

One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich

Cancer Ward

5. RAF Squadron Leader Roger Bushell was a British prisoner of war. As a determined escapee, he was finally incarcerated in Stalag Luft III. His exploits there were (partly) fictionalised in which book and popular film? Hint

The Wooden Horse

Escape from Camp 13

The Colditz Story

The Great Escape

NEXT>

Question 6 of 10

6. Wrongly convicted of a double murder, this prisoner, with the aid of a fellow inmate, slowly digs a hole through his cell wall, hiding his work behind a poster of Rita Hayworth. On his escape from Shawshank Prison, he exposes the corruption rife throughout the jail. Who is he? Hint

Andy Dufresne

Byron Hadley

Ellis Redding

Brooks Hatlen

NEXT>

Question 7 of 10

7. This giant, gentle man with strange powers arrives on Death Row. Before taking the final walk down "The Green Mile" of corridor leading to the electric chair, he helps the warders. What is his name? Hint

John Coffey

Brutus Howell

Paul Edgecombe

Percy Wetmore

NEXT>

Question 8 of 10

8. This prisoner escapes from the notorious wizard prison of Azkabhan, an event which even makes the Muggle news. Which character from the third Harry Potter book is this? Hint

Sirius Black

Draco Malfoy

Rebeus Hagrid

Peter Pettigrew

NEXT>

Question 9 of 10

9. This character, once akin to the main protagonists but corrupted over centuries by possession of the One Ring, is captured and turned over to the Elves, who treat him kindly but fairly. However he escapes and again lusts after the Ring. Who is he? Hint

Gollum

Deagol

Saruman

Sauron

NEXT>

Question 10 of 10

10. Edmond Dantes is arrested on his wedding day, falsely accused of treason and imprisoned on the grim island fortress of Chateau D'if.
What classic French novel is this from? Hint

The Count of Monte Cristo

The Three Musketeers

The Man in the Iron Mask

The Vicomte de Bragalonne

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Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. Prisoner 24601 is paroled, but breaks the terms of the parole, and goes on the run, pursued relentlessly by a dedicated policeman. Who is Prisoner 24601?

Answer: Jean Valjean

"Les Miserables", Victor Hugo's epic novel of revolution, love, hate and redemption tells the story of Jean Valjean's life from prison to eventual peace. It has been adapted for stage and screen many times, including the hugely successful musical.

2. Dickens'sweeping novel "A Tale of Two Cities" opens with a cryptic message, 'recalled to life'. This message refers to the release, after 18 years in the Bastille, of which character?

Answer: Dr Alexandre Manette

Dr Manette's release, and his reunion with his daughter, sets off a chain of events leading to Carton's noble sacrifice at the guillotine.

3. Henri Charriere wrote a brutally honest account of his 14 year sentence on the French Penal Colony of Devil's Island. What did he call the book?

Answer: Papillon

Although Charriere maintained throughout his life that everything in the book is true, many scholars have identified errors, incongruities, anomalies and contradictions in the narrative which lead to the book now being generally regarded as a narrative novel.

4. Shukov, a man unjustly sentenced to 10 years hard labour in a Soviet gulag, is the central character in what searing novel?

Answer: One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich

Solzhenitsyn's novel, published in 1962, tells the harrowing tale of Ivan Denisovich Shukov's daily life in a Siberian gulag, having been sentenced although innocent. The book's publication was an remarkable event in Soviet literary history since such an account of Stalinist repression had never been published before.

Answer: The Great Escape

Although "The Great Escape" did happen, and 81 prisoners fled, the book and particularly the film, fictionalises much. Very few Americans were held at Stalag Luft III. As in the dramatised version, Bushell (Bartlett in the stories), along with 49 other recaptured escapees, was murdered by express order of Hitler.

Answer: Andy Dufresne

"Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption" is a novella from the pen of Stephen King. Although a relatively short piece, it was made into an enthralling film, starring Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman.

Answer: John Coffey

Originally published in six short "chapbooks", Stephen King's novel depicts life on Death Row in the 1930's. Like many of King's books, it was successfully filmed, starring Tom Hanks and the late Michael Clarke Duncan.

8. This prisoner escapes from the notorious wizard prison of Azkabhan, an event which even makes the Muggle news. Which character from the third Harry Potter book is this?

Answer: Sirius Black

"Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkabhan" is the third of J K Rowling's hugely popular Harry Potter novels. Azkabhan, with its "Dementor" guards, sounds truly horrific!

Answer: Gollum

J R R Tolkien's epic masterpiece revolves around the quest to destroy the One Ring. Found, possessed, and coveted by Smeagol, it works its insidious terror on him until he acquires unnatural long life and is called "Gollum".

10. Edmond Dantes is arrested on his wedding day, falsely accused of treason and imprisoned on the grim island fortress of Chateau D'if. What classic French novel is this from?

Answer: The Count of Monte Cristo

"The Count of Monte Cristo" is one of Alexandre Dumas' most popular novels. Like many of his works, it was, in fact, a collaboration with his ghost writer, Auguste Maquette.

Source: Author sancho_pft

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