Monstrilio Quiz: 20 Questions on Gerardo Sámano Córdova's Novel

How the Quiz Works and What It Covers

This 20-question quiz draws on the opening chapter of Monstrilio, where Magos and Joseph confront the death of their son Santiago in their secluded Upstate New York house. The questions are grouped into four sections: plot and sequence, character motivation, theme and symbol, and synthesis. Each question is answerable from the evidence in the chapter, and the full answer key with brief explanations appears at the bottom. If you want to revisit the story before taking the quiz, start with the book overview or jump to the ending explained after you finish.

Section 1: Plot and Sequence (8 Questions)

1. Where does Santiago die?

A) In a Mexico City shopping mall
B) In the family's secluded house in Upstate New York
C) In a hospital in Mexico City
D) On a family vacation in the countryside

2. What does Magos do with the piece of Santiago's lung?

A) She buries it in the garden
B) She places it in a clear jam jar
C) She gives it to Joseph
D) She burns it in the fireplace

3. What does Joseph say when he returns to the room and sees what Magos has done?

A) “What have you done to our son?”
B) “You've destroyed him.”
C) “He's gone, Magos.”
D) “We need to call the doctor.”

4. What are Santiago's pajamas like?

A) Blue with stars
B) Cream-colored with silly dinosaurs
C) Red with trucks
D) Green with frogs

5. (Short answer) What does Magos do to Santiago's ear while lying beside him?

6. In her fantasy, where did Magos imagine her son dying?

A) In a hospital bed
B) In a Mexico City shopping mall
C) In their garden
D) On a beach

7. (Short answer) After Joseph's grief overwhelms him, what does Magos do with him?

8. What part of Santiago's body does Magos decide is “inextricably himself”?

A) His heart
B) His fingers
C) His lung
D) His tongue

Section 2: Character Motivation (5 Questions)

9. Why does Magos choose the lung as the part to take?

A) Because it's the easiest organ to remove
B) Because it's the core of his “Santiagoness” — the part that defined him
C) Because Joseph asked her to
D) Because it was the largest organ

10. Why does Magos only take a small piece of the lung instead of the whole thing?

A) She's afraid of being caught
B) She decides her son should keep his lung
C) The lung is too heavy to carry
D) Joseph interrupts her

11. Why does Magos imagine her son dying in a mall?

A) Because malls are where she feels safest
B) Because she wanted an audience for her sorrow
C) Because her son loved malls
D) Because hospitals are too expensive

12. (Short answer) When Joseph pulls Magos toward their son in the bed, what does she think about bearing the child again?

13. Why does Magos lick her son's ear?

A) To check if he's still alive
B) As an animalistic mourning behavior
C) To clean him
D) To wake him up

Section 3: Theme and Symbol (4 Questions)

14. What does the lung symbolize in the novel?

A) Physical strength
B) The essence of identity — the core of “Santiagoness”
C) Family heritage
D) Medical science

15. What does the owl that hoots in the mornings symbolize?

A) Death approaching
B) The son, Santiago
C) Joseph's grief
D) The passing of time

16. What does blood represent in Magos's actions?

A) Violence and anger
B) The maternal bond — “the blood is mine”
C) Guilt and shame
D) Physical illness

17. (Short answer) What theme is explored through Magos's inability to cry or feel drama at her son's death?

Section 4: Synthesis (3 Questions)

18. (Short answer) How do Magos's and Joseph's grief differ?

19. (Short answer) What does the Lorca play reference reveal about Magos's view of motherhood?

20. (Short answer) Why does Magos say “nothing was left to destroy” when Joseph says she destroyed their son?

Answer Key with Explanations

1. B — The chapter opens with the family in their secluded Upstate New York house; Magos reflects that the death happened there, not in Mexico.

2. B — After slicing off the downmost tip of the lung, Magos places the chunk in a clear jam jar her son used to keep pencils in.

3. B — Joseph freezes at the scene and says, “You've destroyed him.”

4. B — Santiago wears cream-colored pajamas illustrated with silly dinosaurs in bright colors, with thinning patches from wear.

5. She licks his ear, like an animal would.

6. B — In her fantasies, her son died in one of the big shopping malls in Mexico City, where she would have an audience for her sorrow.

7. She folds his body — folding his fingers into his palms, his fists into his chest, and pulling his legs down off the bed — then walks him to their bed, where he curls defeated.

8. C — Magos decides the lung is the core of his “Santiagoness,” the part of a person's body that is inextricably themselves.

9. B — She loves and hates the lung, calling it the core of his Santiagoness, a mystery that carried her son past his expected life span.

10. B — Though she wants to rip the lung out, she decides her son should keep his lung and takes only a nugget, the downmost tip.

11. B — She wanted an audience for her sorrow; in the mall fantasy, mall-goers surround her in hushed awe while she becomes a Pietà.

12. She thinks, “I bore him. I won't bear him again.” — a refusal to bear the child again.

13. B — She lies next to him and licks his ear, like an animal would, an animalistic mourning behavior.

14. B — The lung is the core of his Santiagoness, the essence of his identity.

15. B — The owl that hoots in the mornings is one her son loved, and it serves as a symbol of the son.

16. B — Magos smears and licks her son's blood, recalling the Lorca play's line “Because the blood is mine,” connecting blood to maternal ownership.

17. Grief and emotional numbness — she can't rally the drama she once imagined and feels no tears at the moment of death.

18. Joseph grieves physically and romantically — he squeezes, nuzzles, and sobs — while Magos is numb and practical, unable to cry and instead taking action to preserve a piece of her son.

19. The reference reveals that Magos sees her son's body as hers — the mother in the play says “Because the blood is mine,” and Magos savors her son's blood, licking it from her hands.

20. Because Santiago was already dead — she believes you can't destroy what's already gone, so she sees her actions as preservation rather than destruction.

If you'd like to discuss any of these answers in more depth, visit the questions and answers page or read the ending explained for a closer look at the novel's final movements.