Honor by Thrity Umrigar: Full-Book Quiz

Plot and Sequence

1. What urgent event brings Smita Agarwal back to Mumbai?

A) Her father's illness
B) Shannon's broken hip
C) A journalism assignment
D) Her brother's wedding

2. What verdict does the judge deliver in Meena's case against her brothers?

A) Guilty of manslaughter
B) Guilty of murder
C) Not guilty
D) Case dismissed on a technicality

3. What happens to Meena at the end of the novel?

A) She wins her case and returns home
B) She moves to America with Smita
C) She is killed by a mob of men
D) She reconciles with her brothers

4. Short answer: What was Smita's birth name before her family's forced conversion?

5. What does Smita decide at the Mumbai airport in the final chapter?

A) To board the plane and return to New York
B) To stay in India and help raise Abru
C) To move to Surat with Mohan
D) To take Abru to America

6. When Smita visits Pushpa Patel, what happens?

A) Pushpa warmly welcomes her
B) Pushpa doesn't recognize her and dismisses her
C) Pushpa apologizes for the family's betrayal
D) Pushpa asks Smita to stay for dinner

7. Short answer: How does Radha help Meena escape to Birwad to join Abdul?

8. What do the men do after killing Meena?

A) They surrender to police
B) They burn her hut and erase evidence
C) They flee the village
D) They apologize to Ammi

Character Motivation

9. Why does Meena insist on pursuing the case against her brothers?

A) For revenge against her mother-in-law
B) For her child, to show she fought for her father's sake
C) To win money from the court
D) To regain her family's approval

10. Why does Smita initially resist covering Meena's story?

A) She doesn't believe Meena's account
B) She is reluctant to be in India and wants to return to New York
C) She thinks Shannon should cover it herself
D) She fears for her safety

11. Why does Mohan end up serving as Smita's driver and translator?

A) He volunteers out of curiosity
B) Shannon persuades Smita to accept his help
C) He is paid by Lawyers for Change
D) He wants to visit his family in Birwad

12. Short answer: Why does Meena name her daughter Abru?

13. Why does Anjali take Meena's case despite knowing the risks?

A) To become famous as a lawyer
B) To expose corruption in the police and court systems
C) To earn a large fee from Meena
D) To win a political office

Theme and Symbol

14. In Meena's narrative, what does the mango symbolize?

A) Prosperity and wealth
B) Forbidden love and transgression
C) Religious devotion
D) Family loyalty

15. What does Anjali tell Meena about how steel is forged?

A) That steel is made from iron ore
B) That steel is forged from fire, suggesting Meena's suffering strengthens her
C) That steel is imported from other countries
D) That steel represents the justice system

16. Short answer: What does the name Abru mean, and what does it represent in the novel's final chapter?

17. What does the white rose given to Smita by the waiter Joseph represent?

A) Romantic interest
B) Kindness and the American Dream
C) A warning about danger
D) Religious symbolism

Synthesis

18. Short answer: How does Smita's hidden Muslim identity (Zeenat Rizvi) parallel Meena's experience?

19. Short answer: What does the novel suggest about the relationship between honor and violence?

20. How does the novel connect Smita's personal history to Meena's story?

A) Both women are journalists
B) Both women have experienced religious persecution and displacement
C) Both women are lawyers fighting for justice
D) Both women grew up in Birwad

Answer Key

1. B — Shannon broke her hip and urgently needed help, which brought Smita back to Mumbai from the Maldives.

2. C — The judge returns a Not guilty verdict despite the evidence, and the brothers celebrate with drums and sweets.

3. C — Meena is killed by a mob of men who stone her outside her home after the verdict.

4. Zeenat Rizvi. Smita was born Zeenat Rizvi; her family was forced to convert to Hinduism after the 1996 riots, and she became Smita Agarwal at age twelve.

5. B — Smita decides not to board her flight and runs to Mohan, choosing to stay in India to help raise Abru.

6. B — Pushpa Patel opens the door but does not recognize Smita, and when Smita identifies herself, Pushpa insists she has the wrong number.

7. Radha gets Arvind drunk and fits Meena with padded slippers so she can walk on her burnt feet to the main road, where she makes her way to Birwad.

8. B — The men burn Meena's hut and wash away the blood, erasing evidence of the murder.

9. B — Meena pursues the case for her child, to show her daughter that she fought for her father's sake.

10. B — Smita is reluctant to be in India, a country she has spent twenty years trying to forget, and only agrees to cover the story because Shannon asks her.

11. B — Shannon calls Smita and persuades her to accept Mohan's help as driver and translator.

12. Abru means honor. Meena names her daughter in memory of Abdul, to counter how her brothers twisted the word through violence, and to keep Abdul's flame alive in their daughter.

13. B — Anjali takes the case to expose how corrupt the police and court systems are, even though she knows the risks.

14. B — The mango represents forbidden love and transgression, paralleling the Eden and apple narrative in Meena's story.

15. B — Anjali explains that steel is forged from fire, suggesting that Meena's suffering has strengthened her.

16. Abru means honor. In the final chapter, narrated by Meena after death, the name represents honor reclaimed and redefined—proof that Abdul and Meena met, lived, and loved, and hope for a new India.

17. B — Joseph gives Smita a white rose while telling her of his dream to study hospitality management in America, representing kindness and the American Dream.

18. Both women experience religious persecution and identity erasure. Smita's family was forced to convert to Hinduism after the 1996 riots, while Meena is caught between communities—treated as Muslim by Hindus and as Hindu by Muslims after her interfaith marriage.

19. The novel shows how honor is twisted by patriarchal communities to justify violence against women—honor killings, bride burning, and mob violence. The final chapter redefines honor through Abru's name, suggesting true honor lies in love, sacrifice, and nobility of heart, not in violence.

20. B — Both women have experienced religious persecution and displacement. Smita's family was forced to convert and flee to America, while Meena was ostracized and ultimately killed for her interfaith marriage.