Our Violent Ends Quiz: 20 Questions on Plot, Character, and Theme
Plot and Sequence
1. What interrupts the film at the Grand Theatre in Chapter One?
A) A fire breaks out in the projection booth B) A man in the audience raises a gun at the merchant, and Juliette shoots him C) Roma Montagov announces his engagement to a foreign heiress D) The theater collapses during a monster attack
2. What does the blackmailer demand in Chapter Seven, after initially demanding money?
A) A shipment of silk and opium B) Control of the French Concession C) Military weapons D) Paul Dexter's research papers
3. What happens aboard the train to Kunshan in Chapter Fourteen?
A) The train derails in a storm B) A White Flower transforms into a monster and releases insects C) Roma and Juliette are arrested by Nationalist soldiers D) The vaccine vials are stolen by a pickpocket
4. What do Roma and Juliette find at the advertised vaccine center in Kunshan?
A) A fully operational vaccine laboratory B) A trap set by Dimitri Voronin C) A wonton shop auctioning the last vial from the Larkspur D) An empty building with a note from the blackmailer
5. What happens at the duel by Suzhou Creek in Chapter Thirty?
A) Roma shoots Tyler in the shoulder B) Tyler shoots Roma but misses C) Juliette shoots Tyler before he can fire at Roma D) Benedikt intervenes and stops the duel
6. How does Juliette delay the Nationalist purge in Chapter Thirty-Seven?
A) She bribes General Shu with the vaccine B) She forges a letter from her father claiming her death C) She destroys the execution order D) She hides all the Scarlet Gang members in the tunnels
7. What happens at the public execution in Chapter Forty-Seven?
A) Dimitri releases the monsters and they turn on him B) Juliette offers herself in trade, then triggers an explosion with gasoline and a lighter C) Roma and Juliette escape by boat before the execution begins D) General Shu pardons the prisoners at the last moment
8. What does Alisa do in the epilogue?
A) She marries Benedikt and moves to Moscow B) She becomes a Communist spy and burns paper yuanbao by a canal in Zhouzhuang C) She takes over the White Flowers D) She finds Roma and Juliette alive on a fishing boat
Character Motivation
9. Why does Roma agree to cooperate with Juliette in Chapter Eight?
A) He wants to win back her trust and siphon information, per Dimitri's plan B) He hopes to convince her to join the White Flowers C) He is forced by Lord Montagov under threat of disinheritance D) He wants to steal the vaccine for himself
10. Why does Benedikt hold Juliette at gunpoint in Chapter Twenty-Four?
A) He believes she killed Marshall B) He wants revenge for his mother's death C) He suspects her of being the blackmailer D) He is ordered by Lord Montagov to capture her
11. Why does Juliette shoot Tyler at the duel?
A) She wants to become the sole heir of the Scarlet Gang B) She loves Roma, and Tyler was about to kill him C) Tyler had betrayed the Scarlets to the Nationalists D) She is following Lord Cai's secret orders
12. Why does Rosalind betray the Scarlets?
A) She is blackmailed by the Nationalists B) She is Dimitri Voronin's lover and helped him acquire Paul Dexter's monsters C) She wants revenge on Lord Cai for her father's death D) She is paid by the foreign merchants
13. Why does Juliette refuse to tell Roma that Marshall is alive?
A) She wants to use Marshall as a bargaining chip B) She fears Roma's forgiveness more than exposure, since hatred keeps them safe C) She is ashamed of hiding Marshall D) She wants Benedikt to believe Marshall is dead
Theme and Symbol
14. What does the silk bandage Roma finds on his arm in Chapter Two symbolize?
A) The Scarlet Gang's wealth B) Juliette's hidden care for him C) A warning from the blackmailer D) The fragility of the blood feud
15. What do the string wedding rings in Chapter Forty symbolize?
A) The impermanence of their marriage B) Their vows that even death cannot part them C) The Scarlet Gang's control over Juliette D) Roma's Russian heritage
16. What does the rose metaphor in Chapter Forty represent?
A) The beauty of Shanghai B) The choice between offering beauty or using thorns to sting C) The Scarlet Gang's emblem D) Juliette's mother's garden
17. What does the pink petal Juliette finds near her father's office represent?
A) A clue that someone from the Montagov residence has been eavesdropping B) A gift from Roma C) A sign of spring arriving in Shanghai D) A marker left by the blackmailer
Synthesis
18. How does the Shakespeare epigraph connect to the novel's ending? (Short answer)
19. How does the novel adapt the historical Shanghai Massacre? (Short answer)
20. What is the significance of Alisa forging a marriage certificate and sending it to the press? (Short answer)
Answer Key
1. B. In Chapter One, a man in the audience raises a gun at the merchant, and Juliette shoots him, wounding his shoulder. Roma then returns fire, causing panic in the theater.
2. C. In Chapter Seven, Juliette confronts her father and learns the blackmailer's latest demand is for military weapons, not money. She volunteers to infiltrate the French Concession to find the blackmailer.
3. B. In Chapter Fourteen, a White Flower transforms into a monster and releases insects. Juliette pushes Roma out of the compartment and locks the door, containing the monster, then shoots it after it escapes through a window.
4. C. In Chapter Fifteen, they reach the advertised vaccine center and find a wonton shop. The owner is not making vaccine but auctioning the last vial from the Larkspur of Shanghai. Juliette realizes the flyer never promised vaccinations.
5. C. In Chapter Thirty, Tyler advances to the barrier and raises his pistol, but Juliette shoots him first. She then kills all of Tyler's men. Tyler asks why, and she confesses she loves Roma.
6. B. In Chapter Thirty-Seven, Juliette forges a letter from her father claiming her death to delay the purge until 4 a.m. She intercepts a messenger's letter revealing the Kuomintang purge order and decides to delay it rather than run immediately.
7. B. In Chapter Forty-Seven, Juliette offers herself in trade for Marshall and Alisa, then Benedikt showers the street with gasoline. Juliette throws her lighter onto the gasoline-soaked vaccine bags, triggering a massive explosion.
8. B. In the epilogue, Alisa has become a Communist spy. She travels to Zhouzhuang during the Qingming festival to burn paper yuanbao, reflecting on the forged marriage certificate she sent to the press and the hope people find in Roma and Juliette's union.
9. A. In Chapter Eight, Roma reveals the plan was Dimitri's idea, meant to win back her trust and siphon information. A White Flower spy had infiltrated the Scarlets to persuade Lord Cai.
10. A. In Chapter Twenty-Four, Benedikt knocks Roma unconscious and holds Juliette at gunpoint, blaming her for Marshall's death. Juliette reveals that Marshall is alive, citing Lourens's serum.
11. B. In Chapter Thirty, Juliette shoots Tyler because he had to see Roma's hatred — she confesses she loves Roma. Tyler says she should have chosen her people, and she apologizes as he dies.
12. B. In Chapter Thirty-Five, Rosalind admits she was Dimitri's lover and helped him acquire Paul Dexter's remaining monsters. Juliette finds a necklace engraved with the Voronin name as evidence.
13. B. In Chapter Twenty-Nine, Benedikt urges Juliette to tell Roma she lied about Marshall being alive, but she refuses, saying she fears Roma's forgiveness more than exposure, since hatred keeps them safe.
14. B. In Chapter Two, Roma notices his arm has been bandaged with silk from Juliette's dress — a private gesture of care that contradicts their public enmity.
15. B. In Chapter Forty, Roma and Juliette improvise a wedding ceremony with string rings. Roma's vow is "to have and to hold, where even death cannot part us," and Juliette echoes it fiercely.
16. B. In Chapter Forty, Roma says a rose is a rose even by another name, but "we choose whether we will offer beauty to the world, or if we will use our thorns to sting." The metaphor captures the choice between love and blood.
17. A. In Chapter Seven, Juliette discovers a pink petal embedded in mud near her father's office door and recognizes it as coming from the Montagov residence's peonies — evidence that someone has been eavesdropping.
18. The epigraph — "Eyes, look your last! Arms, take your last embrace!" — frames the novel as a story of lovers facing death. The ending mirrors this: Roma and Juliette exchange vows "where even death cannot part us" and face the explosion together, choosing love in the face of death. The epilogue shows Alisa burning paper money for them, suggesting their love became a legend that helped fracture the blood feud.
19. The author's note explains that the novel swaps the Green Gang for the Scarlet Gang and inserts the White Flowers among the purged. The book compresses the protest march into the same day as the purge (historically the purge occurred at dawn on April 12 and the protest on April 13), and the Chapter Thirty-One takeover condenses the workers' third armed uprising of March 21. Chiang Kai-shek is the sole real historical figure.
20. In the epilogue, Alisa reflects that after the explosion she forged a marriage certificate for Roma and Juliette and sent it to the press, which began to fracture the blood feud. The union becomes a source of hope — as Alisa whispers, "They find hope in your union. They wish not to fight anymore." The story of their love outlives them and reshapes the city's politics.
Want to test yourself further? Try the questions and answers page or revisit the ending explained for a deeper look at the finale.