The Call of a Farewell to Hard Travels Quiz

Answer: The Lord of the Flies

After an atomic war has begun, a plane carrying a group of boys from England crashes on a tropical island. Including Piggy, Ralph, Jack and Simon as the main characters, the struggle for dominance vies with the desire for survival and rescue. While at first this novel seems like a simple, albeit disturbing, adventure story, with each re-reading more social, political and moral themes reveal themselves.

There are comparisons between adults and children (atomic war and island war), evil versus good, loss of innocence, the struggle for supremacy and many more.

Answer: Moby Dick

While the main protagonist in 'Moby Dick' is Captain Ahab, and the narrator is Ishmael, the subordinate characters provide this book with contrasts in values, religions, superstitions and morality. First published in 1851, 'Moby Dick' was considered to be a commercial and literary failure.

Answer: The Call of the Wild

Set during the 1897 Klondike gold rush, Buck is kidnapped and sold as a sled dog in Alaska. His ensuing tale is one of discovery, savagery and survival. Jack London actually participated in the gold rush, and although his adventure was financially unsuccessful, it did give him a wealth of material that invests his books with vivid details and authentic characters.
And, the unnamed man in the red sweater was Buck's first introduction to 'the law of the club'.

Answer: Gulliver's Travels

In this allegorical satire, Jonathan Swift has his protagonist, Lemuel Gulliver, spend 16 years travelling between different countries in which the customs, mores, laws, social statuses and valued attributes vary widely from country to country, and also from his former 'civilized' life. Visiting Lilliput, Brobdingnag, Houyhnhnmland and other lands, Gulliver encounters the Yahoos - primitive humans - learns of Brobdingnag's uncomplicated and rational laws, and marvels at the strife in Lilliput over the political fighting over something as absurd as heel-height for shoes.

Answer: A Farewell to Arms

'A Farewell to Arms' is rich with compelling themes of courage, love, life and loss of identity. It is also a brutal denouement of the literary tendency of romanticizing war. Amid the chaos and frenetic action that accompanies such an encompassing conflict, Frederic and Catherine both evolve throughout the story while the world around them seems to devolve.
Hemingway served during World War I as an ambulance driver with the Red Cross in Italy, and like Frederic, was wounded in action.

Answer: Hard Times

Set in Coketown, a fictitious city in England, 'Hard Times' is a harsh look at the Industrial Revolution, and a riveting examination of the characters affected by their times. Dickens' father was imprisoned for debt in the early 1800s, and his entire family went with him to debtor's prison. 'Hard Times' was first published in weekly installments in 1854.

Answer: One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

Written by Ken Kesey, published in 1962, there are multiple themes throughout the book - man versus woman, machine versus nature, hero versus enemy, freedom versus control. But, the ultimate theme seems to be individualism over conformity, a popular trend during the '60s. The book was made into an Academy Award winning movie in 1975.
In 1960, the author was a volunteer for government drug testing.

Answer: Frankenstein

Considered a Gothic novel, written by Mary Shelley, 'Frankenstein' is a novel of friendship and alienation, creation and destruction, fate and destiny. It embodies a number of deep-reaching moral demands and social taboos. The injustices, to the monster, to the scientist, to the friends and family of those involved with the monster's story, are heartrending and silently demand consideration.

Answer: Treasure Island

A true adventure, 'Treasure Island' is a fairly straightforward tale of danger, suspense, hidden treasure, camaraderie and coming of age. Written by Robert Louis Stevenson and published in 1883, 'Treasure Island' was Stevenson's first true success. 'Dr Jekyll and Mr. Hyde' and 'Kidnapped', both published in 1886, are perhaps even better known to both the book-reading public and movie fans.

Answer: Mark Twain

Mark Twain - the pen name of Samuel Langhorne Clemens - also wrote 'The Adventures of Tom Sawyer', 'The Prince and the Pauper', 'King Arthur's Court' and numerous other novels, short stories and essays. One of America's best-known, and best-loved, writers, Mark Twain set his mark on both the youth of America and the conscience of adults worldwide.