My Friends by Fredrik Backman – 20‑Question Quiz
About This Quiz
This quiz spans the entire novel My Friends by Fredrik Backman. It includes 8 plot/sequence questions, 5 character‑motivation questions, 4 theme/symbol questions, and 3 synthesis questions. Each question is either multiple‑choice or short‑answer. After the final question you’ll find the answer key with brief explanations.
You can also explore the main book page, the questions and answers guide, or the ending explained.
Part 1: Plot and Sequence (8 Questions)
1. Multiple Choice
In Chapter One, what does Louisa plan to do at the art auction?
a) Buy the painting
b) Vandalize the painting by painting graffiti over it
c) Steal the painting for her friend Fish
d) Take a photo of the guards
2. Short Answer
After Louisa hits her head and wakes up beside a homeless man, what does she give him?
3. Multiple Choice
What happens to the artist C. Jat in Chapter Eight?
a) He moves to Paris
b) He dies in a hospital bed
c) He burns all his paintings
d) He goes to prison for ten years
4. Multiple Choice
When Ted and Louisa are on the train, Louisa threatens to sell the painting to strangers. What stops her?
a) The sheriff grabs her arm and reveals her bruises
b) Ted buys her ticket
c) The conductor calls the police
d) The train breaks down
5. Short Answer
Name the fourth friend who appears halfway through the story, completing the group of four.
6. Multiple Choice
Why does Joar hide a knife in Chapter Fourteen?
a) To open cans of paint
b) To kill his abusive father
c) To threaten an art dealer
d) To carve his name on the pier
7. Multiple Choice
What does the janitor Christian do when he meets the fourteen‑year‑old boy who will become C. Jat?
a) He calls the police
b) He invites the boy to paint with him
c) He gives him a box of pills
d) He throws away the boy’s sketchbook
8. Short Answer
In the final chapter, what job does Ted decide he wants to take up?
Part 2: Character Motivation (5 Questions)
9. Multiple Choice
Why does Louisa break into the church to see The One of the Sea?
a) She wants to steal it
b) It reminds her of her dead friend Fish, who taught her how to break in
c) She is hired by an art collector
d) She wants to paint her own version on top
10. Short Answer
What drives Joar to push the artist into entering an art competition?
11. Multiple Choice
Why does Ted tell the story of the stolen‑car outing while the train approaches his hometown?
a) To make Louisa laugh
b) To delay telling the sad ending
c) To explain how the artist got paint
d) To prove he was a good thief
12. Short Answer
What does Ali mean when she says “I believe in you” instead of “I love you”?
13. Multiple Choice
Why does Louisa leave the train while Ted is sleeping?
a) She believes good things never happen to her and can’t trust kindness
b) She wants to find Fish’s grave alone
c) She needs to sell the painting before the museum closes
d) She is afraid of the police
Part 3: Theme and Symbol (4 Questions)
14. Multiple Choice
The epigraph by Anton Ego says “The new needs friends.” Which theme does this most directly introduce?
a) The cruelty of critics
b) The necessity of companionship for new beginnings
c) The value of expensive art
d) The loneliness of fame
15. Short Answer
What does the tiny red fish that Louisa draws next to the painting in Chapter Two symbolize?
16. Multiple Choice
The janitor Christian’s mother says children are born with wings. In the story, what do these “wings” primarily represent?
a) The ability to fly away from trouble
b) Creativity and artistic talent
c) Physical strength
d) Wealth inherited from parents
17. Multiple Choice
What does the repeated cry of “HERE!” among the friends signify?
a) Their competition to swim fastest
b) A secret code to avoid adults
c) Their reassurance that they are still alive and together
d) A game of hide‑and‑seek
Part 4: Synthesis (3 Questions)
18. Short Answer
How does the novel use the motif of “skulls” to connect the artist’s inner life with his friendships?
19. Multiple Choice
In the final chapter, Louisa paints wings on Kimkim’s gravestone and moves Ali’s stone beside it. What does this action symbolize?
a) She is vandalizing the cemetery
b) She is uniting the friends in death as they were in life
c) She wants to sell the stones
d) She has forgotten Fish’s grave
20. Short Answer
What does the “reverse heist” of the painting into the museum say about the value of art in the novel?
Answer Key
1. B – Louisa plans to vandalize the painting by painting graffiti of the guards as jellyfish.
2. She gives him a postcard of the painting.
3. B – C. Jat dies in a hospital bed after whispering “Find Louisa. Give it to her.”
4. A – The sheriff grabs Louisa’s arm, revealing bruises, and Ted relents and buys her ticket.
5. Ali – She appears in Chapter Seventeen when Joar asks “Where’s Ali?”
6. B – He plans to kill his abusive father, though his mother later takes the knife.
7. B – Christian invites the fourteen‑year‑old to paint with him, giving him a reason to live.
8. Ted decides to become a teacher in prison.
9. B – The painting evokes memories of Fish, who taught her how to break into buildings.
10. He believes the artist must escape their violent town and that only fame can save him.
11. B – Ted admits he wants to postpone telling the unhappy ending.
12. She uses the phrase as a deeper expression of trust and commitment than romantic love.
13. A – She cannot trust that good things will last and fears being abandoned.
14. B – The epigraph establishes that new creations need allies, a core theme of the novel.
15. It represents Louisa’s connection to Fish and her desire to leave a personal mark.
16. B – The wings are a metaphor for creativity and artistic potential, especially for the artist.
17. C – The friends shout “HERE!” after swimming to confirm they have all survived.
18. The artist draws skulls in the air and on his paintings; they reflect his awareness of mortality and the violence surrounding the friends, but also serve as a private symbol between them.
19. B – She brings Ali’s stone next to Kimkim’s, symbolically reuniting the four friends.
20. It suggests that art belongs to everyone, not just the wealthy; the painting’s real value is its emotional and communal meaning.