Quiz The Things We Never Say Elizabeth Strout

The Things We Never Say: Full-Book Quiz

Introduction

How well do you remember the quiet depths of Elizabeth Strout's The Things We Never Say? From Artie Dam's near-drowning to the secrets that ripple through his family, this novel rewards careful reading. This 20-question quiz spans the entire book: plot, character motivations, themes, and synthesis. Use it to test your recall or as a study companion.

If you need a refresher, check out our comprehensive book overview or the ending explained. For deeper discussions, visit the questions and answers page.

Quiz Questions

Part 1: Plot and Sequence (Questions 1–8)

Answer each multiple-choice or short-answer question based on the novel's events.

  1. What does Artie Dam do in June at the very beginning of the novel? (Short answer)

  2. What happens to Artie in September that brings him to the hospital? (Multiple choice)

    • a) He falls off a boat while sailing.
    • b) He is rescued from drowning.
    • c) He has a heart attack.
    • d) He crashes his car.

  3. Who rescues Artie from drowning? (Short answer)

  4. What major secret does Rob Dam reveal to his father Artie during a visit? (Short answer)

  5. What item does Artie shoplift for the first time at age fifty-seven? (Short answer)

  6. What does Rachel, Rob’s new girlfriend, steal from the Dam home? (Multiple choice)

    • a) A silver spoon
    • b) A pillbox
    • c) A book of poetry
    • d) Artie’s watch

  7. What is the official cause of Artie’s death? (Multiple choice)

    • a) Suicide by drowning
    • b) Heart attack
    • c) Suicide by overdose
    • d) Car accident

  8. What two objects does Evie discover in the attic after Artie’s death that reveal aspects of his life? (Short answer)

Part 2: Character Motivation (Questions 9–13)

Focus on why characters act as they do.

  1. Why does Artie decide not to tell Evie that he knows Rob is Reginald’s son? (Multiple choice)

    • a) He is too afraid of Evie’s anger.
    • b) He believes telling her would destabilize her or their marriage.
    • c) He wants to use the secret as leverage later.
    • d) He plans to tell Rob but not Evie.

  2. Why does Rhonda Lazarre decide to become a minister? (Short answer)

  3. Why does Danny Marino write graffiti on the school wall? (Multiple choice)

    • a) He wants to impress a girl.
    • b) He is angry about his parents’ separation and feels like saying “fuck you” to the world.
    • c) He is dared by friends.
    • d) He is protesting the school’s dress code.

  4. What motivates Flossie to confess her affair to Artie during their New Year’s dinner? (Short answer)

  5. Why does Artie laugh uncontrollably when Flossie jokes about the new president “shaking things up”? (Multiple choice)

    • a) He finds the joke genuinely hilarious.
    • b) The laughter is a cathartic release of his accumulated sorrow and marks the end of his suicidal thoughts.
    • c) He is mocking Flossie.
    • d) He is drunk.

Part 3: Theme and Symbol (Questions 14–17)

Connect objects and ideas to the novel’s deeper meaning.

  1. According to the Carl Jung epigraph, what is the true source of loneliness? (Short answer)

  2. What does the sailboat Artie receives as a gift—and later sails alone—symbolize? (Multiple choice)

    • a) His desire to escape from Evie.
    • b) A promise to live and a place of peace and freedom.
    • c) His wealth and status.
    • d) A reminder of his failed suicide attempt.

  3. What does the stolen comb represent in Artie’s life? (Short answer)

  4. The novel shows many “unspoken truths.” Give one specific example of a secret that a character keeps from a loved one. (Short answer)

Part 4: Synthesis (Questions 18–20)

Think across the whole story.

  1. Compare how Artie Dam and Principal Hoover Lakeland approach their roles at the school. What different outcomes result from their methods? (Short answer)

  2. How does the novel connect personal secrets and unspoken truths to the broader theme of political division? (Short answer)

  3. Considering Artie’s impact on his students (Rhonda, Danny) and his family (Rob, Evie), do you think his life was ultimately successful? Support your answer with one piece of evidence from the novel. (Short answer)

Answer Key

Part 1: Plot and Sequence

  1. Answer: He says goodbye to his friend Flossie MacDonald, who is leaving town. Explanation: The opening chapter (Chapter 1) begins in June with Artie’s farewell to Flossie (outline chapter 1).
  2. Answer: b) He is rescued from drowning. Explanation: In Chapter 2, Artie recovers in the hospital after being pulled from the water. The outline states he “recovers from a near-drowning.”
  3. Answer: Kenneth Moynihan. Explanation: Chapter 2 mentions Artie meets his rescuer Kenneth Moynihan for dinner (outline chapter 2).
  4. Answer: That Reginald MacDonald is Rob’s biological father. Explanation: In Chapter 3, Rob gives Artie a letter from Reginald revealing the paternity (outline chapter 3).
  5. Answer: A comb. Explanation: Chapter 4 begins with Artie shoplifting a comb for the first time (outline chapter 4).
  6. Answer: b) A pillbox. Explanation: At the Dam home, Rachel picks up and later takes a pillbox belonging to Evie’s grandmother. Evie immediately notices (evidence chapter 4 chunk-0005).
  7. Answer: b) Heart attack. Explanation: In the Epilogue, an autopsy confirms Artie died of a massive heart attack during a heat wave (evidence chapter 10 chunk-0004).
  8. Answer: A letter from Reginald addressed to Rob, and a photo of Artie with Rhonda Lazarre and Danny Marino from graduation. Explanation: After Artie’s death, Evie finds both items in his mother’s jewelry box (evidence chapter 7 chunk-0006).

Part 2: Character Motivation

  1. Answer: b) He believes telling her would destabilize her or their marriage. Explanation: Artie considers telling Evie during Christmas but decides “I’m not going to do that” because he does not know if revealing the secret would relieve or destabilize her (outline chapter 7, evidence chapter 9 chunk-0004).
  2. Answer: Because Artie called out to her in the hallway, showing kindness, which she later connects to her desire to help others. Explanation: Chapter 2 of the outline and supporting evidence show Rhonda deciding to become a minister after that moment of connection.
  3. Answer: b) He is angry about his parents’ separation and feels like saying “fuck you” to the world. Explanation: When Artie confronts Danny, Danny later admits he wanted to say “fuck you” to the world, and Artie confesses he feels the same way (evidence chapter 7 chunk-0005).
  4. Answer: Guilt and loneliness after her husband Reginald’s death. Explanation: In Chapter 7, Flossie confesses her affair and drinks heavily; her confession is part of her grief (outline chapter 7).
  5. Answer: b) The laughter is a cathartic release of his accumulated sorrow and marks the end of his suicidal thoughts. Explanation: The outline states that Artie’s uncontrollable laughter is “a release of sorrow that marks the end of his suicidal thoughts” (chapter 7).

Part 3: Theme and Symbol

  1. Answer: Loneliness comes from being unable to communicate what is personally important or from holding views others find inadmissible. Explanation: The epigraph directly quotes Carl Jung on this definition (evidence chapter 2 chunk-0001).
  2. Answer: b) A promise to live and a place of peace and freedom. Explanation: Rob gives Artie a sailboat and promises to go sailing with him. Artie later finds peace only on the water (outline chapter 7 and Epilogue).
  3. Answer: It represents Artie’s secret desires and the shame he feels, as well as his impulse to act out. Explanation: Artie shoplifts the comb impulsively; the act is linked to his memory and loneliness (outline chapter 4).
  4. Sample answer: Evie knows for twenty-eight years that Rob is Reginald’s son but never tells Artie. Explanation: In Chapter 3, Artie realizes “Evie has known the secret for twenty-eight years” (outline chapter 3).

Part 4: Synthesis

  1. Sample answer: Artie connects personally with students (like Danny and Rhonda) and encourages them. Principal Hoover enforces rules rigidly, predicts political decay, and eventually commits suicide. Artie’s approach fosters growth; Hoover’s leads to isolation. Explanation: Outline chapters 3 and 5 contrast Artie’s empathetic teaching with Hoover’s despair and suicide.
  2. Sample answer: The novel suggests that political division, like personal secrets, arises from an inability to communicate across difference. Characters like Ken and Artie avoid discussing politics to preserve their friendship, mirroring the way Evie and Artie avoid discussing Rob’s paternity. Explanation: In Chapter 7, Artie notes “nobody was talking about it these days if you didn’t know whose side the other person was on” (evidence chapter 9 chunk-0004).
  3. Sample answer: Yes, his life was successful. Despite his loneliness, he changed students’ lives—Danny Marino years later thinks, “That man changed my life.” That legacy outweighs his personal struggles. Explanation: Evidence from Chapter 3 (evidence chunk-0007) shows Danny’s later reflection; the Epilogue and Chapter 5 also confirm his lasting impact on Rhonda and others.

For more detailed analysis, see our book overview or ending explained.