Quiz Bridge Lauren Beukes

Bridge by Lauren Beukes: 20-Question Quiz

This quiz spans the entire novel, from the 2006 New Orleans road trip to the multiverse showdown. Each question is tied to specific chapters and evidence from the story. Ready to see how well you know Bridge’s journey through the dreamworm?

Plot and Sequence (8 questions)

1. (Multiple choice) What object does seven-year-old Bridge see her mother Jo obtain from the woman Mina in New Orleans in April 2006?

A) A sitar
B) A rabbit mummy wrapped in cloth
C) A zoetrope
D) A storage locker key

Correct answer: B

2. (Short answer) After arriving at her mother’s ransacked house, Bridge finds a storage locker key hidden inside what musical instrument?

Answer: Jo’s sitar (see chapter 2)

3. (Multiple choice) When Bridge and Dom open the Tupperware container in Jo’s freezer, what do they discover?

A) A frozen ratatouille
B) A shriveled dreamworm cocoon
C) A handwritten diary
D) A dead rat

Correct answer: B

4. (Multiple choice) During her first deliberate dreamworm trip with Caden, Bridge chooses to travel to which reality code?

A) ZC
B) SG
C) WV
D) HA

Correct answer: B (SG; see chapter 15)

5. (Short answer) In chapter 3, Dom shares a past online identity. What forum or subculture did Dom once belong to?

Answer: Lulzchan (see chapter 3)

6. (Multiple choice) After many reality jumps, Dom creates a spreadsheet cataloging Bridge’s visited universes. How many of Bridge’s other selves are confirmed dead?

A) 12
B) 46
C) 67
D) 17

Correct answer: B (46 dead; see chapter 30)

7. (Multiple choice) In the postscript (chapter 63), Joanne removes a dreamworm from Budgie’s arm. What does Joanne decide to do with the worm?

A) Burn it
B) Use it to travel to a successful-scientist version of herself
C) Give it to the police
D) Hide it in the freezer again

Correct answer: B

8. (Short answer) What clue does an alternate version of Jo (Not-Jo) give Bridge during their phone call in chapter 34?

Answer: “Birdie” or “Bird”

Character Motivation (5 questions)

9. (Multiple choice) Why does Bridge swallow part of the dreamworm in her mother’s kitchen in chapter 2?

A) She wants to escape grief and depression permanently
B) She remembers her mother using it and feels compelled to try it
C) Dom dares her to do it
D) She is trying to destroy the evidence

Correct answer: B (Bridge recognizes the cocoon from childhood and impulsively ingests a strand)

10. (Multiple choice) What is Amber’s primary motive for hunting down people infected with dreamworms?

A) She hopes to use the dreamworms for her own multiverse travel
B) She believes the infected are non-human and must be eliminated to protect the multiverse
C) She is avenging the death of her husband Chris, who was killed by the infection
D) She works for a secret government agency

Correct answer: C (see chapter 13: Amber built the Frequency Machine after her husband died from the infection)

11. (Short answer) Why does Jo secretly withdraw $80,000 from her joint account with Stasia in June 2022?

Answer: To travel to Ushuaia, Argentina, in a desperate attempt to buy a dreamworm (see chapter 21)

12. (Multiple choice) In chapter 56, Jo admits she deliberately swapped lives with Budgie without Budgie’s consent. What reason does Jo give for this act?

A) She believed Budgie was suicidal and wanted to save her
B) She needed to hide from Amber
C) She wanted to start a new life in a healthier body
D) She was forced to by Rabbit

Correct answer: A

13. (Short answer) What does Caden admit to Bridge and Dom about his real purpose for using the dreamworm?

Answer: He wants to steal songs from his successful producer otherself in Singapore (see chapter 31)

Theme and Symbol (4 questions)

14. (Multiple choice) The dreamworm is repeatedly described with imagery that links it to which of the following?

A) A flower bulb
B) A parasitic organism
C) A technological device
D) A religious relic

Correct answer: B (the worm is described as a parasite that infects consciousnesses; see chapters 38, 42)

15. (Multiple choice) What does the zoetrope – a spinning animation device – symbolize in the novel?

A) The cyclical nature of grief
B) The illusion of movement and the mechanism of traveling between realities
C) The entertainment industry
D) The passage of time in Bridge’s childhood

Correct answer: B (the zoetrope is used as a tool for phasing; see chapters 3, 15)

16. (Short answer) Bridge creates an alter ego called “Bad Bridge” as a child. What does this invention help her cope with?

Answer: Anger after her mother’s cancer and divorce (see chapter 10)

17. (Multiple choice) The motif of “blanket forts” that Bridge sees in Portland (chapter 10) is used to draw a parallel between:

A) Homelessness and the blanket forts Bridge built with her mother
B) The dreamworm’s cocoon and a child’s fort
C) Bridge’s childhood and Dom’s past
D) The multiverse and a patchwork quilt

Correct answer: A (Bridge compares the tents to the blanket forts she made with Jo)

Synthesis (3 questions)

18. (Short answer) Bridge eventually decides to return to her own universe instead of staying with Jo in the cabin. What are two reasons she gives for this decision?

Answer: She feels responsible for the other Bridgets she harmed, and she acknowledges that Jo is already dead in her world. (Accept any two: to help the other selves, to fix things, because Jo is dead in her home universe, to face consequences, etc.)

19. (Multiple choice) Which of the following best explains why Bridge’s mother Jo was “immune” to extruding dreamworms when she swapped bodies?

A) Jo had built up a tolerance through repeated use
B) Jo’s epilepsy prevented the worm from propagating in her brain
C) Jo used a special box that Rabbit gave her
D) The worm only affects younger hosts

Correct answer: B (see chapters 56, 58: Jo says her epilepsy kept the worm from taking hold)

20. (Short answer) In the final chapter (Postscript), Joanne burns her journal after writing her plan. What does this act suggest about her character and the story’s message?

Answer: It shows she is willing to erase her past and abandon her current life to pursue a new identity, reinforcing themes of escapism and the moral ambiguity of multiverse travel. (Accept any reasonable interpretation about secrecy, guilt, or the cost of escaping reality.)

Answer Key Explanation

Below is a brief expansion of why each correct answer is supported by the text.

  1. B – Chapter 1: Jo asks Mina for a “rabbit” wrapped in cloth; Mina says it is dead but gives it to Jo.
  2. Jo’s sitar – Chapter 2: Bridge finds the key hidden there while cleaning the house.
  3. B – Chapter 2: Bridge opens the container and identifies the cocoon as the dreamworm.
  4. B – Chapter 15: Caden suggests SG and Bridge agrees.
  5. Lulzchan – Chapter 3: Dom refers to their past on the Lulzchan forum.
  6. B – Chapter 30: Dom’s spreadsheet records 46 dead from brain cancer, accidents, etc.
  7. B – Chapter 63: Joanne takes the worm from Budgie’s arm and decides to use it to travel to a scientist version of herself.
  8. “Birdie” – Chapter 34: Not-Jo tells Bridge that another Jo left a note with that word.
  9. B – Chapter 2: Bridge’s impulse comes from childhood memory, not a dare or destruction.
  10. C – Chapter 13: Amber built the machine after Chris’s death; she views the infected as non-human.
  11. To go to Ushuaia to buy a dreamworm – Chapter 21: Jo’s diary details the scam.
  12. A – Chapter 56: Jo says Budgie was suicidal, so she took her place.
  13. To steal music from his other self – Chapter 31: Caden’s motivation is revealed.
  14. B – Multiple chapters refer to the dreamworm as a parasite; chapter 38 calls it a “parasitic monster.”
  15. B – The zoetrope is used to induce phasing; it symbolizes the mechanism of travel.
  16. Anger after her mother’s cancer and divorce – Chapter 10: Bridge explains Bad Bridge.
  17. A – Chapter 10: Bridge explicitly compares the tent cities to her childhood blanket forts.
  18. Responsible for other Bridgets / Jo is dead in her world – Chapter 60: Bridge states both reasons.
  19. B – Chapter 56: Jo explains her epilepsy made her immune to extruding.
  20. Erasing past / escapism – Chapter 63: The act shows Joanne’s willingness to abandon her life.

Want to explore more about the novel? Check out the book summary, the questions and answers page, or our detailed ending explained.