Quiz The Little Liar Mitch Albom

The Little Liar Quiz – 20 Questions

About This Quiz

This quiz spans the entire novel The Little Liar. Use it to check your understanding of the story, its characters, and its deeper meanings. After the questions, you’ll find a complete answer key with brief explanations. If you need a refresher, explore the study guide or the ending explained.

Section 1: Plot & Sequence (8 Questions)

  1. Multiple choice: In what year does the novel’s prologue (the cattle-car scene) take place?

    • A) 1941
    • B) 1943
    • C) 1945
    • D) 1939

  2. Short answer: What object does Lazarre give to his grandchildren to teach them about chesed shel emet (true and loving kindness)?

  3. Multiple choice: Who discovers Nico hiding in the crawl space of his family home?

    • A) Sebastian
    • B) Fannie
    • C) Udo Graf
    • D) Lev

  4. Short answer: What lie does Udo Graf force Nico to tell at the train station?

  5. Multiple choice: During the “One Very Large Wedding” chapter, who is Sebastian forced to marry?

    • A) Fannie
    • B) Rivka
    • C) Tia
    • D) Katalin

  6. Short answer: After the war, what profession does Sebastian take up to track down Udo Graf and Nico?

  7. Multiple choice: In the final confrontation at the Salonika train station, who shoots Nico?

    • A) Udo Graf
    • B) The Nazi Hunter
    • C) A German soldier
    • D) Sebastian

  8. Short answer: How does Udo Graf ultimately die?

Section 2: Character Motivation (5 Questions)

  1. Multiple choice: Why does Sebastian keep silent when he sees Nico and Fannie hiding during the raid on the family home?

    • A) He is afraid of the soldiers.
    • B) He is jealous of Nico.
    • C) He thinks they will be safer alone.
    • D) He wants to punish his parents.

  2. Short answer: What motivates Lev to switch his identity card with his father Lazarre during the Auschwitz selection?

  3. Multiple choice: Why does Fannie choose not to tell Gizella about the gray-haired neighbor who found her in the house?

    • A) She does not trust Gizella.
    • B) She wants to avoid frightening Gizella.
    • C) She hopes the neighbor will help her leave.
    • D) She forgets about the encounter.

  4. Short answer: What deep fear drives Nico to continue lying and changing identities for decades after the war?

  5. Multiple choice: When Fannie first sees Nico in California cleaning tombstones, why does she feel certain it is him?

    • A) He looks exactly the same as when they were children.
    • B) She recognizes his voice.
    • C) He is performing an act of chesed shel emet.
    • D) He calls her by name.

Section 3: Theme & Symbol (4 Questions)

  1. Multiple choice: The White Tower in Salonika symbolizes which of the following in the novel?

    • A) Nazi power
    • B) Forgiveness and redemption
    • C) Greek nationalism
    • D) The lie of resettlement

  2. Short answer: What does the “colorful robe” given to Truth by the angel Parable represent?

  3. Multiple choice: The repeated image of snow (Chioni) throughout the novel primarily symbolizes:

    • A) Coldness and cruelty
    • B) Purity and innocence
    • C) The erasure of memory
    • D) The passage of time

  4. Short answer: What does the act of cleaning tombstones, as taught by Lazarre, represent thematically?

Section 4: Synthesis (3 Questions)

  1. Multiple choice: At the end of the novel, which character is revealed to have been the narrator “Truth” all along?

    • A) Nico Krispis
    • B) Sebastian Krispis
    • C) Fannie Nahmias Krispis
    • D) Udo Graf

  2. Short answer: How does the epigraph’s idea that “haunting comes from what must be forgotten” connect to Nico’s lifelong guilt?

  3. Multiple choice: How do the two parables in the novel (Truth cast from heaven and Truth given a robe) work together to explore the novel’s main theme?

    • A) They show that truth is always hated.
    • B) They explain why people accept lies when they are dressed up.
    • C) They argue that parables are more truthful than facts.
    • D) They prove that truth can never be hidden.

Answer Key & Explanations

Q# Answer Explanation
1 B 1943 The cattle-car scene in chapter 2 is set in 1943, when Jews from Salonika are deported.
2 Cleaning graves / tending tombstones Lazarre teaches the children to clean his parents’ graves, an act of kindness that cannot be repaid (chapter 9).
3 C Udo Graf After the family is deported, Udo commandeers the home and hears Nico in the crawl space (chapter 13).
4 That the trains are taking them to new homes and jobs in Poland (the “resettlement” lie) Udo coaches Nico to tell the deportees that everything will be fine (chapter 18).
5 B Rivka Sebastian is forced into a marriage of convenience with Rivka, a girl he barely knows (chapter 19).
6 Nazi hunter / working for the Nazi Hunter After the war, Sebastian joins efforts to track down Nazis, including his brother and Udo (chapter 32).
7 A Udo Graf Udo shoots Nico twice to stop him from revealing the truth (chapter 43).
8 Poisoned by Fannie via jequirity peas in his wine Fannie, posing as a train attendant, poisons Udo before he reaches Germany (chapter 44).
9 B He is jealous of Nico Sebastian sees Nico and Fannie hiding but stays silent out of envy (chapter 12).
10 To save his father’s life / sacrificial love Lev knows he is stronger and switches cards so his elderly father will survive selection (chapter 27).
11 B She wants to avoid frightening Gizella Fannie lies because she fears Gizella will send her away (chapter 24 evidence).
12 Guilt over his role in the deportations / fear of being exposed as the “little liar” Nico’s lies are driven by the shame of having helped Udo (chapters 25, 32).
13 C He is performing an act of chesed shel emet Cleaning tombstones recalls Lazarre’s lesson and confirms the man is Nico (chapter 40 evidence).
14 B Forgiveness and redemption The legend of Nathan Guidili, who painted the tower to earn forgiveness, makes it a symbol of atonement (chapter 15).
15 The idea that truth must sometimes be disguised or told through stories to be accepted The parable says people rejected naked truth but welcomed it when robed (chapter 16).
16 B Purity and innocence Nico is called Chioni (snow) because he seems untouched by deceit (chapter 4 evidence).
17 True and loving kindness (chesed shel emet) — selfless acts of respect for the dead Lazarre explains this is a kindness that cannot be repaid (chapter 9).
18 C Fannie Nahmias Krispis In the final chapter, Fannie reveals that she is the narrator Truth (chapter 45 evidence).
19 Nico must forget his family and his past to survive, but that forgetting haunts him forever The epigraph (James Fenton) says “haunting comes from what must be forgotten”; Nico’s guilt is a constant ghost.
20 B They explain why people accept lies when they are dressed up The first parable shows truth rejected; the second shows that a colorful robe makes it welcome—just as lies wear appealing disguises.

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