Alan Paton – Cry, the Beloved Country – Exam Based MCQs
1. Cry, the Beloved Country is written by: (UGC NET 2018; SET 2019; PGTRB 2020)
A) Alan Paton
B) Nadine Gordimer
C) J.M. Coetzee
D) Chinua Achebe
Ans: A) Alan Paton
2. Cry, the Beloved Country was first published in: (UGC NET 2017; SET 2018; PGTRB 2019)
A) 1936
B) 1948
C) 1958
D) 1962
Ans: B) 1948
3. The novel is set primarily in: (SET 2018; PGTRB 2019; UGC NET 2020)
A) Nigeria
B) South Africa
C) Kenya
D) India
Ans: B) South Africa
4. The main protagonist Stephen Kumalo is a: (UGC NET 2018; SET 2020; PGTRB 2021)
A) Lawyer
B) Priest
C) Journalist
D) Policeman
Ans: B) Priest
5. Kumalo travels to Johannesburg mainly to: (UGC NET 2019; SET 2020; PGTRB 2021)
A) Attend a conference
B) Find his missing sister and son
C) Join politics
D) Start a business
Ans: B) Find his missing sister and son
6. Kumalo’s son is named: (SET 2019; PGTRB 2020; UGC NET 2021)
A) Absalom
B) Jarvis
C) Msimangu
D) Gertrude
Ans: A) Absalom
7. James Jarvis is: (UGC NET 2018; SET 2019; PGTRB 2020)
A) Kumalo’s brother
B) A white landowner whose son is killed
C) A black activist
D) A police inspector
Ans: B) A white landowner whose son is killed
8. The murdered man in the novel is: (UGC NET 2019; SET 2020; PGTRB 2021)
A) John Kumalo
B) Arthur Jarvis
C) Father Vincent
D) Harris
Ans: B) Arthur Jarvis
9. Arthur Jarvis is portrayed as: (SET 2018; PGTRB 2019; UGC NET 2020)
A) A corrupt politician
B) A social reformer concerned with justice
C) A criminal lawyer
D) A mine owner
Ans: B) A social reformer concerned with justice
10. The novel deals mainly with the themes of: (UGC NET 2017; SET 2019; PGTRB 2020)
A) Fantasy and magic
B) Apartheid, racial injustice, and reconciliation
C) Medieval chivalry
D) Romantic comedy
Ans: B) Apartheid, racial injustice, and reconciliation
11. The character who helps Kumalo in Johannesburg is: (UGC NET 2018; SET 2020; PGTRB 2021)
A) Harris
B) Msimangu
C) John Jarvis
D) Dubula
Ans: B) Msimangu
12. John Kumalo is: (SET 2019; PGTRB 2020; UGC NET 2021)
A) Kumalo’s brother, a political speaker
B) Kumalo’s father
C) A missionary priest
D) Absalom’s lawyer
Ans: A) Kumalo’s brother, a political speaker
13. Gertrude is: (UGC NET 2018; SET 2019; PGTRB 2020)
A) Kumalo’s wife
B) Kumalo’s sister who has fallen into vice
C) Arthur Jarvis’s mother
D) A school teacher
Ans: B) Kumalo’s sister who has fallen into vice
14. Absalom is convicted for: (UGC NET 2019; SET 2020; PGTRB 2021)
A) Theft of cattle
B) Murder of Arthur Jarvis
C) Political rebellion
D) Drug trafficking
Ans: B) Murder of Arthur Jarvis
15. The narrative style of the novel is notable for its: (SET 2018; PGTRB 2019; UGC NET 2020)
A) Dense modernist fragmentation
B) Biblical cadence and lyrical tone
C) Purely comic satire
D) Dramatic monologue form
Ans: B) Biblical cadence and lyrical tone
16. The title “Cry, the Beloved Country” suggests: (UGC NET 2017; SET 2019; PGTRB 2020)
A) Celebration of national victory
B) Lament for a nation’s suffering and moral crisis
C) A love story
D) A travel memoir
Ans: B) Lament for a nation’s suffering and moral crisis
17. The rural village Kumalo belongs to is: (UGC NET 2018; SET 2019; PGTRB 2020)
A) Ndotsheni
B) Umuofia
C) Ilujinle
D) Marabar
Ans: A) Ndotsheni
18. The novel highlights the problem of: (SET 2019; PGTRB 2020; UGC NET 2021)
A) Overuse of technology
B) Land degradation and rural poverty
C) Space exploration
D) Medieval feudalism
Ans: B) Land degradation and rural poverty
19. The overall message of the novel supports: (UGC NET 2019; SET 2020; PGTRB 2021)
A) Hatred and revenge
B) Compassion, justice, and reconciliation
C) Isolationism
D) Pure escapism
Ans: B) Compassion, justice, and reconciliation
20. The novel is often categorized as: (UGC NET 2018; SET 2020; PGTRB 2021)
A) Postcolonial / anti-apartheid novel
B) Medieval romance
C) Metaphysical poem
D) Restoration comedy
Ans: A) Postcolonial / anti-apartheid novel
21. The friendship that develops between Kumalo and Jarvis symbolizes: (UGC NET 2020; SET 2021; PGTRB 2022)
A) Political rivalry
B) Possibility of reconciliation across racial divides
C) Total defeat of the rural people
D) Colonial expansion
Ans: B) Possibility of reconciliation across racial divides
22. Msimangu eventually decides to: (SET 2020; PGTRB 2021)
A) Join politics
B) Enter a monastery / religious community
C) Become a lawyer
D) Move to England
Ans: B) Enter a monastery / religious community
23. Absalom’s confession shows: (UGC NET 2019; SET 2021)
A) Complete denial
B) Acceptance of guilt and moral awareness
C) Celebration of crime
D) Indifference to justice
Ans: B) Acceptance of guilt and moral awareness
24. The contrast between countryside and city mainly highlights: (UGC NET 2018; SET 2020)
A) City as moral decay and countryside as fragile hope
B) City as perfect utopia
C) Countryside as irrelevant
D) No social difference
Ans: A) City as moral decay and countryside as fragile hope
25. The tone of the novel is best described as: (PGTRB 2020; UGC NET 2021)
A) Satirical and comic
B) Lyrical, compassionate, and moral
C) Purely scientific
D) Detached and cold
Ans: B) Lyrical, compassionate, and moral
26. Arthur Jarvis’s writings in the novel emphasize: (SET 2019; PGTRB 2021)
A) Racial superiority
B) Social justice and equality
C) Pure entertainment
D) Agricultural methods only
Ans: B) Social justice and equality
27. The novel’s central conflict arises from: (UGC NET 2020; SET 2021; PGTRB 2022)
A) Mythical curse
B) Racial segregation, poverty, and moral breakdown
C) Supernatural revenge
D) Royal succession
Ans: B) Racial segregation, poverty, and moral breakdown
28. The novel is known for promoting: (UGC NET 2019; SET 2020; PGTRB 2021)
A) Violent revolution only
B) Forgiveness and moral regeneration
C) Total despair with no hope
D) Pure nationalism only
Ans: B) Forgiveness and moral regeneration
29. Kumalo’s journey is best seen as a: (SET 2019; PGTRB 2020; UGC NET 2021)
A) Comic adventure
B) Spiritual and moral pilgrimage
C) Scientific expedition
D) Colonial conquest
Ans: B) Spiritual and moral pilgrimage
30. Jarvis helps Ndotsheni mainly by: (UGC NET 2020; SET 2021)
A) Building a factory
B) Supporting agricultural improvement and education
C) Sending soldiers
D) Closing the church
Ans: B) Supporting agricultural improvement and education
31. The title of Paton’s novel reflects: (UGC NET 2018; SET 2019)
A) Pure celebration
B) A lament mixed with hope for renewal
C) A detective story
D) A mythic quest
Ans: B) A lament mixed with hope for renewal
32. The book is often studied as a protest against: (SET 2020; PGTRB 2021; UGC NET 2022)
A) Industrialization
B) Apartheid and racial oppression
C) Modernism
D) Romanticism
Ans: B) Apartheid and racial oppression
33. The death of Arthur Jarvis leads his father to: (UGC NET 2019; SET 2021)
A) Seek revenge
B) Understand injustice and work for change
C) Leave the country
D) Become a criminal
Ans: B) Understand injustice and work for change
34. One key symbol in the novel is the “broken tribe,” representing: (UGC NET 2020; SET 2021; PGTRB 2022)
A) A mythic monster
B) Social disintegration under oppression
C) A sports team
D) A royal family
Ans: B) Social disintegration under oppression
35. The novel’s ending is best described as: (UGC NET 2018; SET 2020; PGTRB 2021)
A) Completely hopeless
B) Tragic yet hopeful for renewal
C) Pure comedy
D) Unrelated to the themes
Ans: B) Tragic yet hopeful for renewal
36. Kumalo’s character mainly represents: (SET 2019; PGTRB 2020)
A) Corruption
B) Faith, compassion, and moral endurance
C) Colonial power
D) Scientific rationalism
Ans: B) Faith, compassion, and moral endurance
37. The legal trial in the novel highlights: (UGC NET 2019; SET 2021; PGTRB 2022)
A) Perfect equality in the system
B) Harsh justice and racial inequality
C) Celebration of crime
D) Magical realism
Ans: B) Harsh justice and racial inequality
38. The novel’s importance lies in its: (UGC NET 2020; SET 2021)
A) Depiction of South Africa’s racial crisis and plea for humanism
B) Medieval setting
C) Scientific discoveries
D) Focus on Greek mythology
Ans: A) Depiction of South Africa’s racial crisis and plea for humanism
39. The novel is narrated mostly in: (SET 2018; PGTRB 2019; UGC NET 2020)
A) First person only
B) Third person with biblical lyricism
C) Second person throughout
D) Dramatic dialogue only
Ans: B) Third person with biblical lyricism
40. Cry, the Beloved Country can be read as a novel of: (UGC NET 2019; SET 2020; PGTRB 2021)
A) Moral regeneration
B) Medieval adventure
C) Pure fantasy
D) Courtly romance
Ans: A) Moral regeneration
41. The “beloved country” refers to: (UGC NET 2018; SET 2019; PGTRB 2020)
A) England
B) South Africa
C) Nigeria
D) Australia
Ans: B) South Africa
42. The novel suggests that fear is: (SET 2020; PGTRB 2021; UGC NET 2022)
A) The greatest enemy of social harmony
B) The solution to problems
C) Unimportant
D) Only a personal feeling
Ans: A) The greatest enemy of social harmony
43. The character who represents political radicalism is often: (UGC NET 2019; SET 2021)
A) Kumalo
B) John Kumalo
C) Arthur Jarvis
D) Msimangu
Ans: B) John Kumalo
44. The novel’s moral vision is closest to: (UGC NET 2020; SET 2021; PGTRB 2022)
A) Humanism and Christian ethics
B) Nihilism only
C) Pure satire
D) Epic heroism
Ans: A) Humanism and Christian ethics
45. The novel’s social criticism is aimed at: (SET 2019; PGTRB 2020; UGC NET 2021)
A) Racial segregation and injustice
B) Ancient Greek society
C) Medieval religion
D) Renaissance art
Ans: A) Racial segregation and injustice
46. The novel presents hope mainly through: (UGC NET 2018; SET 2020; PGTRB 2021)
A) Education and social responsibility
B) Magic and prophecy
C) Total isolation
D) Colonial conquest
Ans: A) Education and social responsibility
47. Jarvis’s transformation indicates: (UGC NET 2019; SET 2021; PGTRB 2022)
A) Unchanged prejudice
B) Empathy and willingness to act for justice
C) Desire for revenge
D) Indifference
Ans: B) Empathy and willingness to act for justice
48. The novel’s most central emotion is: (SET 2020; PGTRB 2021)
A) Fear
B) Hatred
C) Pride
D) Humour
Ans: A) Fear
49. Cry, the Beloved Country is best described as a: (UGC NET 2019; SET 2020; PGTRB 2021)
A) Social protest novel
B) Gothic horror story
C) Comic farce
D) Epic fantasy
Ans: A) Social protest novel
50. Overall, the novel argues that a nation can be healed through: (UGC NET 2020; SET 2021; PGTRB 2022)
A) Compassion and justice
B) More segregation
C) Silence and fear
D) Total exile
Ans: A) Compassion and justice
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