Quiz Go as a River Shelley Read

Go as a River: Full-Book Quiz – Plot, Characters, Themes & Symbolism

Quiz Instructions

This 20-question quiz covers the entire novel Go as a River by Shelley Read. Questions are divided into four sections: Plot & Sequence (8 questions), Character Motivation (5 questions), Theme & Symbolism (4 questions), and Synthesis (3 questions). Most are multiple-choice; a few require short written answers. After completing the quiz, check your responses against the answer key below, which includes brief explanations.

Part 1: Plot & Sequence (8 questions)

  1. In 1948, what event first brings Victoria Nash and the drifter Wilson Moon together?
    a) Wilson stops at the Nash farm to buy peaches.
    b) Victoria finds Wilson collapsed in the orchard.
    c) Victoria fetches her drunken brother from a poker game on Main Street.
    d) Wilson rescues Victoria from a runaway horse.

  2. What does Victoria do after discovering she is pregnant with Wil’s child?
    a) She tells her father and asks for his help.
    b) She runs away to the mountain hunting hut to live alone.
    c) She marries another man to hide the pregnancy.
    d) She leaves town with Ruby-Alice.

  3. Short answer: What object does Victoria leave on the boulder at Big Blue Creek clearing each year after her son’s birth? (1–3 words)

  4. Who is the woman who finds Victoria’s newborn baby abandoned in a car and raises him as her own?
    a) Zelda Cooper
    b) Millie Dunlap
    c) Inga Tate
    d) Ruby-Alice Akers

  5. What happens to Wilson Moon?
    a) He is killed by a group of men including Seth, his body dragged behind a car.
    b) He leaves Iola voluntarily and is never seen again.
    c) He dies in a mining accident.
    d) He is arrested and sent to an Indian boarding school.

  6. Short answer: What major infrastructure project forces the town of Iola to be evacuated and flooded? (1–3 words)

  7. In 1970, after reading Inga Tate’s letter, Victoria finally tells her friend Zelda the truth about Wil and her missing son. What does Zelda insist they must do?
    a) Report Seth to the sheriff.
    b) Find Victoria’s son.
    c) Sue the government for the loss of the farm.
    d) Keep the secret to protect Lukas.

  8. How does Ruby-Alice Akers die?
    a) She is killed in a storm.
    b) She peacefully passes away in her own home after refusing food.
    c) She drowns in the reservoir.
    d) She is murdered by Seth.

Part 2: Character Motivation (5 questions)

  1. Why does Seth Nash want to track down Wilson Moon after the wanted posters appear?
    a) He believes Wil is a dangerous criminal who threatened the family.
    b) He wants to claim the $20 bounty and express his racist hatred.
    c) He hopes to warn Wil about the danger.
    d) He wants to apologize for the earlier fight.

  2. Short answer: What is Victoria’s likely reason for staying silent when her family utters bigoted comments about Wil at dinner? (1–2 sentences)

  3. Why does Inga Tate confess the truth about Lukas’s parentage to him when he is twelve?
    a) Lukas discovers a stone circle in the woods and Inga fears he will learn from someone else.
    b) Inga wants to prevent Lukas from being drafted into the Vietnam War.
    c) Inga feels guilty and believes Lukas deserves to know the truth immediately.
    d) Max threatens to reveal the secret.

  4. What drives Victoria to transplant the peach orchard to Paonia rather than let it be drowned?
    a) She wants to make money from the government buyout.
    b) The orchard represents her father’s legacy and her own roots.
    c) She hopes Lukas will one day find the trees.
    d) She is ordered to do so by the county.

  5. Why does Victoria initially hesitate to try to find her son after receiving Inga’s letter?
    a) She is afraid of disrupting his life and causing him more pain.
    b) She cannot afford the journey.
    c) She is angry at Inga for taking him.
    d) She believes he has already died.

Part 3: Theme & Symbolism (4 questions)

  1. In the novel, the river most strongly symbolizes:
    a) uncontrollable fate and natural disaster
    b) the flow of life, change, and continuity despite loss
    c) the barrier between Iola and the outside world
    d) the destructive power of human engineering

  2. The peach orchard represents which of the following themes?
    a) The fragility of nature and the inevitability of decay
    b) Nourishment, family heritage, and endurance through uprooting
    c) The harsh reality of agricultural work
    d) The temptation of forbidden fruit

  3. Short answer: Explain what the stone circle Victoria builds each year at Big Blue Creek signifies in terms of grief and hope. (2–3 sentences)

  4. When Victoria recalls Wil’s phrase “go as a river,” she eventually comes to understand it as:
    a) surrendering to the current of life without resistance
    b) flowing forward while gathering all the small experiences that shape you
    c) escaping from painful memories by moving constantly
    d) accepting that some things are beyond human control

Part 4: Synthesis (3 questions)

  1. How does Victoria’s relationship with Ruby-Alice Akers evolve, and what does Ruby-Alice’s role teach Victoria about hidden connections and community?

  2. Compare the way Victoria’s father (Hale/Thomas) and her brother Seth respond to loss and trauma. What does each response reveal about their characters?

  3. Short answer: In the final reunion scene at Blue Mesa Reservoir, Victoria carries a twig of peach blossoms. What does this gesture convey about her journey from loss to hope?

Answer Key

Part 1: Plot & Sequence

  1. c – Victoria is sent to fetch her drunk brother Seth from a poker game; she meets Wil on Main Street and later sprains her ankle, leading him to carry her home. (Ch. One)

  2. b – After hiding her pregnancy and stockpiling supplies, Victoria rides Abel into the mountains, forces the horse back, and hikes to the remote hunting hut to live alone. (Ch. Ten)

  3. Six smooth stones (or “stones” – one for each year since his birth). (Ch. Eighteen)

  4. c – Inga Tate discovers the abandoned baby in a forest clearing after her own son Maxwell is born, and raises the boy as her own twin named Lukas. (Ch. Twenty-One)

  5. a – Wil is killed by a racist mob; his body is dragged behind a car and found in the Black Canyon. Seth is involved. (Ch. Nine)

  6. Blue Mesa Reservoir (or “the dam” / “Blue Mesa Dam”). (Prologue)

  7. b – Zelda insists they must find Victoria’s son Lukas. (Ch. Twenty-Three)

  8. b – Ruby-Alice passes peacefully on her sofa after refusing food, surrounded by her dogs. (Ch. Twenty)

Part 2: Character Motivation

  1. b – Seth’s bigotry and desire for the $20 reward motivate him to pursue Wil. (Ch. Six)

  2. She has been taught by her mother that women must hide their true feelings; she also feels conflicted loyalty and fear of causing family conflict. (Ch. Three)

  3. b – Inga confesses after the draft lottery forces her to choose between saving Lukas or Max; she hopes knowing the truth will allow Lukas to avoid Vietnam. (Ch. Twenty-One)

  4. b – The orchard is her father’s life work and her own connection to home; transplanting it is an act of preserving legacy. (Ch. Seventeen)

  5. a – Victoria worries that revealing the truth will cause Lukas more pain and that he may not want to meet her. (Ch. Twenty-Five)

Part 3: Theme & Symbolism

  1. b – The river continually appears as a force of flow, change, and continuity, teaching Victoria to move forward while carrying her past.

  2. b – The peaches and orchard represent sustenance, heritage, and the possibility of renewal after being uprooted.

  3. The stone circle marks Victoria’s annual ritual of remembering and honoring her lost son. Each stone represents another year of separation, but the act of placing it also expresses hope that he is alive and that their connection persists.

  4. b – Victoria realizes that “going as a river” means flowing forward while also gathering the tiny pieces of experience that connect her to everyone and everything.

Part 4: Synthesis

  1. Victoria initially sees Ruby-Alice as an odd, isolated neighbor, but she later learns that Ruby-Alice lost her entire family to the flu and is a silent guardian of secrets. Ruby-Alice shelters Wil and later nurses Victoria back to health. Their bond teaches Victoria that quiet, seemingly strange people can offer profound refuge and that community ties exist in unexpected forms.

  2. Victoria’s father (Hale) withdraws into work and grieves silently; he eventually shows rare tenderness but never openly processes his pain. Seth, in contrast, turns to violence, alcohol, and bigotry, channeling his trauma into aggression against others. Hale’s response leads to slow resilience, while Seth’s results in destruction and exile.

  3. The peach blossoms symbolize new life, the orchard legacy Victoria has preserved, and her willingness to offer something rooted and hopeful to the son she has never known. They connect her past loss with a possible future of reunion.

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