City of the Plague God Quiz

This quiz covers the entire City of the Plague God by Sarwat Chadda. After you finish, check the answer key below. For deeper discussion, see our questions and answers and ending explained.

Plot and Sequence (8 Questions)

1. Where does Sikander first encounter the demons Sidana and Idiptu?
A) Central Park
B) In the alley behind his family’s deli
C) At school
D) At Gravesend Dock

2. What object does Ishtar give Sikander that later grants him safe passage?
(Short answer)

3. What does the cuneiform graffiti inside the shipping container repeatedly say?
A) “Nergal is coming”
B) “Gilgamesh lied”
C) “Beware the plague”
D) “Ishtar weeps”

4. After Ishtar’s death, where do Nergal’s demons take Sikander?
(Short answer)

5. How does Sikander escape the demons in Sunnyside Yard?
A) Belet arrives and fights them
B) He uses customer‑service skills to turn them against each other
C) Daoud creates a distraction
D) He tricks Nergal into eating a bomb

6. What plant did Mo discover and send to Sikander, which Sik accidentally ingested?
(Short answer)

7. How does Sikander finally defeat Nergal?
A) He stabs him with Kasusu
B) He disperses the cure into a raincloud, which “cures” Nergal’s immortality
C) He traps him in a dumpster
D) Gilgamesh kills Nergal with a shovel

8. What does Belet decide to do after Nergal dissolves?
(Short answer)

Character Motivation (5 Questions)

9. Why does Ishtar initially take Sikander to her townhouse?
A) To train him as a warrior
B) To enlist his help against Nergal
C) Because she is lonely and wants a friend
D) To return him to his parents

10. Why does Belet accuse Mo of stealing an artifact?
A) She found Mesopotamian relics in his locker
B) Mo boasted about smuggling artifacts out of Iraq
C) Ishtar told her that Mo was a thief
D) Daoud confessed to the theft

11. Why does Mo send the flower cutting to Sikander?
(Short answer)

12. What motivates Nergal to obsessively seek the flower of immortality?
A) He wants to become a better god
B) He is rotting away and needs it to survive
C) He wants to give it to Erishkigal
D) He plans to destroy it

13. Why does Sikander choose to go with Ishtar even though he is terrified?
(Short answer)

Theme and Symbol (4 Questions)

14. What does the flower of immortality primarily symbolize in the novel?
A) Eternal youth
B) Both a burden (immortality as sickness) and a source of healing
C) Human greed
D) The power of the gods

15. What does the repeated phrase “Gilgamesh lied” represent?
(Short answer)

16. How does the author reinterpret the word jihad?
A) As a holy war against non‑believers
B) As a noble struggle to protect and improve one’s family
C) As a religious conversion
D) As a synonym for terrorism

17. What does Ishtar’s relationship with her adopted children demonstrate?
(Short answer)

Synthesis (3 Questions)

18. Compare Sikander’s character at the beginning and at the end of the book.
(Short answer – describe the change)

19. How does the story blend modern New York City with ancient Mesopotamian mythology? Give one example.
(Short answer)

20. If a sequel were written, what unresolved conflict would likely be the focus?
(Short answer – based on the epilogue)

Answer Key

1. B – In Chapter One, Sik discovers Sidana and Idiptu eating garbage in the alley behind Mo’s Deli.
2. The golden lion ring / king’s seal ring – Ishtar gives it to him in Chapter Sixteen, and it allows him and Belet to enter Gilgamesh’s hidden ziggurat.
3. B – In Chapter Twelve, Belet reads the cuneiform: “Gilgamesh lied,” written over and over.
4. Sunnyside Yard in Queens – Chapter Nineteen.
5. B – Sik manipulates the demons using customer‑service tactics, making Idiptu, Sidana, and Tirid fight each other so he can escape.
6. The flower of immortality – Mo sent a cutting; Sik planted it and unknowingly became immortal by eating the sap.
7. B – Sik opens the tub of Mo’s Promise into a thundercloud; the rain “cures” Nergal’s immortality, causing him to decay and die.
8. She will journey to Kurnugi to rescue Ishtar – Chapter Forty‑One.
9. B – Ishtar needs Sik’s help because Nergal is after him, and he is already involved in the divine conflict.
10. A – Belet accuses Mo of stealing an artifact from Ishtar; she believes he smuggled Mesopotamian relics.
11. He wanted to share something beautiful and meaningful with his younger brother – Mo died before explaining the flower’s significance.
12. B – Gilgamesh explains that Nergal is rotting away; without the flower he will be permanently destroyed.
13. He wants to learn the truth in order to protect his family – Despite his fear, he chooses agency over ignorance.
14. B – The flower can heal diseases, but its sap makes one immortal, which Nergal experiences as a sickness that ultimately kills him.
15. Nergal’s resentment of Gilgamesh’s false stories, and the theme of truth versus legend – The graffiti shows Nergal’s obsessive anger at being deceived.
16. B – In the Author’s Note and Chapter Nine, Sik redefines jihad as a defensive struggle to save his parents, not a war.
17. Love as infinite, the pain of outliving loved ones, and sacrificial maternal love – Ishtar adopts children throughout history, but immortality forces her to watch them die.
18. Sik begins as a grieving, insecure boy who talks to his dead brother; by the end he acts as a self‑sacrificing hero, accepts Mo’s death, and finds strength in his own identity – He grows from fear to decisive action.
19. Examples include: Ishtar and Belet living in a modern Upper East Side townhouse but using divine powers; Sik using a kebab kitchen and street knowledge alongside the magical sword Kasusu.
20. Belet’s quest to rescue Ishtar from Kurnugi – In the epilogue, Belet tells Sik she will travel to the underworld alone.