The Cider House Rules, Part 1 Trivia Quiz

Answer: He never cried; they thought there was something wrong with him.

Since Homer never cried, the foster parents complained that they would awaken to the same silence that prompted them to adopt a baby in the first place.

Answer: Ether

Dr. Larch contracted gonorrhea from the prostitute Mrs. Eames. He became addicted to sniffing ether when he discovered that the "light, tasty vapor was an effective killer of his pain."

Answer: Maine and Europe

The 19,000-ton Great Eastern was built in Portland, Maine to sail the route to Australia. The many delays during her construction drove her owners to bankruptcy, and she was purchased for use on the North Atlantic route, for which she proved unsuitable. The ship was a complete failure.

Answer: Professor Draper

Homer's third foster parents were Professor and Mrs. Draper. For grace at mealtimes, Professor Draper would cry "Say after me: I am vile, I abhor myself, but I am thankful for everyone in my family!" On Thanksgiving, Homer was attacked by one of the Draper's grandchildren, and then punished when the child lied and blamed Homer for the attack. Homer ran away and returned to St. Cloud's.

When Larch heard Homer's story, he sent a brief note to the Drapers: "Repent. You ARE vile, you SHOULD abhor yourselves."

Answer: The shadows of Homer and Dr. Larch

The stationmaster saw the huge shadows of Homer and Dr. Larch and mistook the towering figures for two of the restless, homeless, unsaved dead he believed inhabited the world.

Answer: Anything you do for orphans

During WWI Dr. Larch served in France. His replacement at St. Cloud's would not perform abortions, calling this the Devil's work. Dr. Larch wrote to his nurses that he had seen the real Devil's work: the Devil worked with shell and grenade fragments, with shrapnel and with the dirty little bits of clothing carried with a missile into a wound.

The Devil's work was gas bacillus infection, and Dr. Larch would never forget how it crackled to the touch. He wrote to his nurses to tell his replacement that the work at the orphanage was all the Lord's work: everything you do, you do for the orphans.

Answer: Bandit is a girl's name

Nurse Angela and Nurse Edna took turns naming the boys who were born at St. Cloud's. When it was her turn, sometimes Nurse Angela named the boys after her favorite pets, but she didn't use the name Bandit because her cat Bandit had been a female.

Answer: The nickname came from a passage from Jane Eyre

Homer read aloud to the orphans in the Boy's Division and the Girl's Division. When reading to the girls from Jane Eyre, he read the sentence, "Even for me [chirped little Jane Eyre], life had its gleams of sunshine." When Melony heard this, she howled with disbelief, inviting Jane Eyre to come to St. Cloud's. "Let her show ME the 'gleams' of sunshine!" After this, Melony called Homer "Sunshine".

Answer: Gray's Anatomy

Dr. Larch wrote that he had little use for his copy of Gray's Anatomy in St. Cloud's, but in France, in World War I, he used it every day. It was the only "road map" he had over there.

Answer: Off Harrison

One of the facilities of the South Branch of the Boston Lying-In Hospital was located on Harrison Street, so the term "Off Harrison" came to mean unofficial and illegal abortion facilities.