A Handful of Dust Quotes

Question 1

I will show you

Answer 1

I will show you fear in a handful of dust - Epigraph, The Waste Land, T.S. Elliot

Question 2

No one I am thankful to

Answer 2

No one I am thankful to say…except two housemaids - Mrs Beaver

Question 3

She’s lovely,

Answer 3

She’s lovely, he’s rather a stick - Mrs Beaver

Question 4

He’s got just enough money

Answer 4

He’s got just enough money, loves the place, one son he’s crazy about, devoted wife, not a worry in the world - Jock

Question 5

ecclesiastical gloom of

Answer 5

ecclesiastical gloom of the great hall… cavernous chill of the more remote corridors

Question 6

All over England people

Answer 6

All over England people were waking up, queasy and despondent.

Question 7

These scenes of domestic playfulness had

Answer 7

These scenes of domestic playfulness had been more or less continuous in Tony and Brenda’s life for seven years.

Question 8

Poor people use

Answer 8

Poor people use certain expressions which gentlemen do not - Tony

Question 9

posing as an

Answer 9

posing as an upright, God-fearing gentleman of the old school (Tony)

Question 10

so appallingly

Answer 10

so appallingly ugly - Brenda

Question 11

Oh, I’m all right. Wish

Answer 11

Oh, I’m all right. Wish I was dead, that’s all. - Brenda

Question 12

he’s got to be taught

Answer 12

he’s got to be taught a whole lot of things. That’s part of his attraction. - Brenda

Question 13

the imprisoned

Answer 13

the imprisoned princess of fairy story (Brenda)

Question 14

only the rich realise

Answer 14

only the rich realise the gulf that separates them from the poor - Aunt Frances

Question 15

the cupboard doors are jammed and the

Answer 15

the cupboard doors are jammed and the curtain won’t pull right across so that the street lamp shines in all night…but it’s lovely (Brenda’s flat)

Question 16

How English you are…so

Answer 16

How English you are… so shy of talking about personal things, intimate things - Jenny

Question 17

Please God

Answer 17

Please God make me see the kill. Please God don’t let me do anything wrong - John Andrew

Question 18

Everyone agreed that

Answer 18

Everyone agreed that it was nobody’s fault (John Andrew)

Question 19

she’s got nothing else, much

Answer 19

she’s got nothing else, much, except John…
with Brenda John always came first… - Tony

Question 20

John…John Andrew

Answer 20

John… John Andrew… I… Oh thank God… - Brenda

Question 21

He had got into a habit of

Answer 21

He had got into a habit of loving and trusting Brenda

Question 22

all vanes and pinnacles, gargoyles, battlements

Answer 22

all vanes and pinnacles, gargoyles, battlements… a transfigured Hetton (Tony on lost city)

Question 23

I’m very fond of Tony

Answer 23

I’m very fond of Tony, you know, in spite of the monstrous way he behaved. - Brenda

Question 24

A mechanical green fox

Answer 24

A mechanical green fox with a bell inside him that jingled as he ran

Question 25

A palm thatch roof

Answer 25

A palm thatch roof, breast-high, walls of mud and wattle, and a mud-floor (Todd's house)

Question 26

he shut his eyes and

Answer 26

he shut his eyes and thought of England and Hetton and fell asleep (Tony)

Question 27

he hoped one day to restore

Answer 27

he hoped one day to restore Hetton to the glory that it had enjoyed in the days of his cousin Tony (teddy)

Question 28

But damp had penetrated

Answer 28

But damp had penetrated into one corner, leaving a large patch where the gilt had tarnished and the colour flaked away

Question 29

in John Andrew's

Answer 29

in John Andrew's day

Question 30

Her head was propped against a very small

Answer 30

Her head was propped against a very small blue pillow; clean of make-up, her face was almost colourless, rose-pearl, scarcely deeper in tone than her arms and neck.

Question 31

She turned her lips away and rubbed

Answer 31

She turned her lips away and rubbed against his cheek like a cat. It was a way she had.

Question 32

Silly old

Answer 32

Silly old tart

Question 33

It wasn't Thunderclap's fault. I just

Answer 33

It wasn't Thunderclap's fault. I just opened my bloody legs and cut an arser.

Question 34

The pudding, without

Answer 34

The pudding, without protein, was unattractive.

Question 35

monkey...She'd gibber and chatter and

Answer 35

She'd gibber and chatter and lash round with her tail, and then I expect she'd catch some nice, big, juicy fleas and forget all about it.

Question 36

When he had kissed her, she rubbed

Answer 36

When he had kissed her, she rubbed against his cheek in the way she had.