11/22/63 Trivia

1. Al informs Jake that he can travel through the rabbit hole and take as much time as he likes, but it will always equate to how long a timespan in their world?

From Quiz 11/22/63

Answer: Two minutes

Jake Epping, a Maine English teacher, is called up by local diner owner Al Templeton who, in less than a day, seems to have aged years since Jake's last meal. Al, now afflicted with terminal lung cancer, levels with him. One day, he found something in his diner's pantry-- a couple steps in and you would appear in another time, specifically 11:58am on September 9th, 1958. No matter how long he spent in 1958, he could return the way he came and only two minutes would have passed in the diner. Sure enough, Jake 'falls down the rabbit hole' and spends a short time in 1950s Maine, enjoying a root beer before returning from whence he came. It's an interesting prospect to Jake. It's clearly supernaturally fascinating, but potentially dangerous. Al levels with him-- he wanted to go back and change a watershed moment in history. What if, he suggests, someone went back in time and saved JFK? The big issue is the butterfly effect; if Jake goes back in time and changes something, it could affect his original timeline. Even having the root beer changes something that Al once tried to affect on his last visit. But there's not much time to do something. With Al expected to die of his affliction, the diner is likely to go up for lease. He asks Jake to do what he couldn't-- to save JFK-- but Jake insists on something smaller scale first. He settles on following up on a story one of his GED students once wrote for him. Harry Dunning's family was killed by his crazed father who attacked his mother and brother with a hammer one night in 1958. If Jake can go back there and save Harry, then maybe he can aim higher.

From Quiz 11/22/63

Answer: Al Templeton

Al's diner was one of the old aluminum trailer types often seen in the '50s and '60s. Al discovered the portal after moving his business to Lisbon. He used it to basically buy the same ground beef over and over, at 1950s prices, and sell his own famous Fatburgers at a huge discount to the people of 2011. He still made a fantastic profit on the inexpensive burgers. Despite the success of his diner, the corporation who owned his lease chose not to renew it. So, this prompted Al to return to the past for his longest stay. He stayed four years, but was not able to save JFK. He contracted lung cancer and was forced to return home and enlist Jake Epping in his cause.

From Quiz 11/22/63

Answer: Derry

Jake returns to 1958 and makes sure to be careful not to go too far off the script to avoid what he and Al realize might create a butterfly effect. He makes a number of stops-- he gets a haircut, goes to the bank, buys clothes, buys a car-- and before he knows it he drives off to Derry to execute his plan. He dislikes Derry from the get-go; there's something that seems to cast a pall over the sleepy town, on top of which there are numerous Dunnings living there. He digs for information, but there aren't even records at the town hall. It's almost as though something is acting against his purpose; the past, after all, is obdurate. The leads do show up though, often through sheer coincidence, and Jake finds himself situated in Derry for seven weeks before locating Frank Dunning, a butcher at the Derry Center Street Market who's been living in a rooming house five blocks away from his family in town. Jake reasons that there might be many ways of stopping Frank from committing his awful act, but the simplest way to do so, and to prevent him from causing harm in the future, would have to be by killing him. He buys a gun the next day.

From Quiz 11/22/63

Answer: Halloween

It doesn't take much digging at the local bars for Jake to determine that Dunning has a hidden bad temper. Though he's perfectly charming to his customers, rumours of his domestic outbursts have been circulating. He accumulates his notes before discovering that a local source of information was put up to telling him what he wanted to hear by a man named Bill Turcotte. When the fateful night of Halloween arrives, Jake finds that the obdurancy of the past is in full force. Sick all morning and afternoon, he barely manages to make it to the Dunning household in time with his gun. He's stopped by Turcotte upon his arrival and he uncovers the fact that Turcotte came to do the same thing-- Frank Dunning killed his sister Clara years ago. Turcotte, however, is also a victim of the timeline; he experiences devastating chest pain, enough for Jake to overpower him and head into the household just in time for Frank to arrive with a sledgehammer. The man manages to hit Ellen and kill Arthur, Harry's eldest brother, but Bill manages to gain enough strength to enter the house and stab Frank with a bayonet. Before anyone can catch him, Jake gets to his car, takes the turnpike back to Lisbon Falls, and takes the step back to 2011. Mission accomplished.

From Quiz 11/22/63

Answer: Ford Sunliner

Al had all of the items he would need to pass for a man in 1958, including the persona of George Amberson. Jake had to purchase things like a car, extra clothing, and a suitcase from the era. He bought the same car, from the same dealer, on trips two and three. It was a 1954 Ford Sunliner, described as a ragtop, which meant it was a convertible. When he came back for THE trip, number three, he did a better job of dickering on the price. He paid $315 for it the first time, complete with a sticker and 14 day license plate. The second time he got the car for $300.

From Quiz 11/22/63

Answer: Substitute teacher

When Jake makes it back to 2011 he finds that an earlier picture of Harry Dunning is not on Al's diner wall. Due to the actions he took in 1958, Dunning never grew up to become a janitor. Al warns him that if he goes back into the rabbit hole, as he most certainly will, he'll reset the timeline, but for now, Dunning never met him. Additionally, the larger the changes Jake makes, the more the past will resist his actions. Because Jake tried to save all of the Dunnings, it had stronger obdurancy. And sure enough, Jake's actions stuck. Turcotte died of a heart attack on Halloween night at the Dunning household. When Jake calls an older Ellen Dunning, she informs him that Harry died in Vietnam. Jake heads to Al's to get more information only to discover that the man killed himself to end the pain. And it's with little more than a stack of detailed notes that he returns through the rabbit hole, back into 1958 to reset the clock. That being said, this time he enters the past to find that things have already changed-- a man with a yellow card in his hat, waiting at the rabbit hole, has slit his throat. Previously, he'd been there to meet passers-through. Jake changes course slightly to change the past. Taking on the name George Amberson, he pushes back against the pass to kill Frank Dunning early, catching him at the graveyard where his parents are buried. Jake shoots him while he's laying flowers at their tombstone before leaving Derry altogether. He also follows through with Al's plan to save a young woman named Carolyn Poulin from a stray bullet, doing so by occupying a Maine hunter, Andy Cullum, so that he doesn't go hunting on that fateful day. He succeeds on this front too. And with that he heads to Florida and then Louisiana, teaching, gambling with stacked odds (knowing the past thoroughly enough from Al's notes), and then heading to Texas. With the plan to spend three years laying low, he settles in the town of Jodie, just outside of Dallas, and gets a job as a substitute teacher. It's then that he meets Sadie Clayton (nee Dunhill), and that's when things get complicated.

From Quiz 11/22/63

Answer: Arthur 'Tugga' Dunning

I was unclear as to why Jake waited until Halloween night, the night Harry's father attacked the family. I thought it would have left less to chance and timing if he took out Frank way before that time. But, on his first go around, Jake waited until the last moment, and as Al warned him, history does not like to be changed. He developed an awful stomach virus, which almost incapacitated him on Halloween. Then, his plan was interrupted when Bill Turcotte stopped him from killing Frank. Frank had been married to Bill's sister many years prior, but Frank claimed she ran off and took their young son with her. Bill believed Frank had killed them both and buried their bodies in the woods, so he wanted to be the one to kill Frank. In the end, it was Bill who killed Frank that night. He died as well, after Jake left town, of a heart attack. On the the third trip, Bill was not a factor in Frank's death, but Jake did send him a warning about the heart attack. Bill lived this time.

From Quiz 11/22/63

Answer: The Yellow Card Man had committed suicide

Al had explained about the Yellow Card Man to Jake before his first trip. He told Jake that the Yellow Card Man, a drunk, would ask for a dollar to buy booze. Jake was to tell the man that all he had was fifty cents. On his first trip into 1958, Jake met the Yellow Card Man and it all went down exactly as Al had warned. On his second trip, the one to save the Dunning family in Derry, the Yellow Card Man now had an orange card instead. Jake knew something was off about this man each time he went into the past. I suspected that the Yellow Card Man was not actually from 1958 and did not know how to return. I was partially correct. On Jake's third trip, the one he intended to use to take care of all of his plans, the man had committed suicide and his card was black. At the end of the book, Jake learned the truth about this man and why his card changed colors.

From Quiz 11/22/63

Answer: Honky Tonk Woman

The issues begin when Sadie hears Jake sing "Honky Tonk Woman" out loud during a drive, a song that would be seven years too early for their date in time. He realizes, in this argument, that she bears a striking resemblance to Doris Dunning, Frank's wife, and that the past might be harmonizing with itself. The pair are forced to break up, since Jake can't come clean about his motives. The situation worsens when Jake loses his job; the school catches wind of his hazy past when they try to dig up his vaccination records. He's quietly asked to step down. It gives him the opportunity to move into a place on Mercedes Street only weeks before the Oswalds return from Russia. He spies on them at the airport on the same day Sadie flies to Reno to end her marriage, as planned. Jake determines that one step in his plan should be to visit George de Mohrenschildt, Oswald's only friend and the man who, according to Al's notes, would convince him to kill JFK. Al's suggestion was to take him out. To learn more about the situation and avoid the possibility that Oswald didn't act alone, he purchases an omnidirectional microphone and sets it up before the family settles in Fort Worth. With the lamp in the Oswald home bugged, Jake is able to listen in on a heart-to-heart between Oswald and De Mohrehnschlidt. As unnerving as it is for the prospects of his mission, it's then that he seeks out an apartment at 214 West Neely St., where Oswald and his family would live next. He bugs that location too, knowing there's still opportunity to get to the bottom of the situation.

From Quiz 11/22/63

Answer: Carolyn Poulin

On that third excursion, Jake went back to Derry to save the Dunning family. This time, he played the situation much more carefully, and left nothing to chance. He killed Frank Dunning while the man was standing at his parents' grave site. This was a place Jake already knew Frank would be. He saved the entire Dunning family this time, but felt a little guilty for killing Frank before he was even in the act of murder. So, he sent a letter to Bill Turcotte warning him about his impending heart attack, and decided to save Al's pick, Carolyn. He knew she would live either way, both decent lives despite her being paralyzed in one. But, Al wanted to spare her entirely, so for Al, he saved her by occupying the time of the hunter who would accidentally shoot her. Al, dying from lung cancer, had committed suicide after Jake returned from his second trip, and Jake knew it was to prevent him from changing his mind about Oswald.

From Quiz 11/22/63

Answer: Her ex-husband

By Autumn 1962, a year before the date of the assassination, Jake finds himself constantly thinking about Sadie. Slipping out during another instance of marital strife in the Oswalds' apartment upstairs and while the tensions of Cuba's nuclear capabilities heighten, he drives to Jodie to find Sadie, in her bedroom, knocked out on a dangerous combination of barbiturates and alcohol, having taken them in her frenzy and fear of nuclear war. Jake sobers her up as much as possible and tells her a lot of things he couldn't possibly know about the future in an effort to calm her. It's that night, after saving her and attempting to tell her the truth, that they get back together, and by New Years Day, most of Jake's relationships in Jodie have mended. As the year flips to 1963, he worries, knowing what's ahead. In March 1963, the Oswalds finally move into the apartment on West Neely and Jake takes the opportunity to buy a gun. Marina, Lee's wife, starts teaching a local woman Russian. Ruth Paine, Jake knows, is the woman who Marina would live with at the time of the assassination. During a critical meeting between Oswald and De Mohrenschildt, Jake listens as his audio bug cuts out. Once again the past has a way of blocking him from learning more. Before a major date in the timeline, Jake tells Sadie his real name. That night, she asks if there's anything she can do to help him complete his mission. There isn't, he claims, but he does ask her to marry him. On April 10th, 1963, Jake packs his gun and plans to head out to intercept Oswald moments before Marina appears at his door looking for her husband. The visit is short, but it's long enough for Jake to be home for an unexpected phone call. It's John Clayton, Sadie's ex-husband, and he's at her house, having broken in to harm her. Jake decides to rush to her rescue, going with the whims of the past, and calls Deke to assist him. They make it in time to save her life (though she's horribly disfigured), and as they leave Clayton alive (since Jake can't arouse suspicion with the police), he uses the knife he brought to slit his own throat. And Jake is no closer to understanding if Oswald will commit his crime alone or with help.

From Quiz 11/22/63

Answer: He's beaten up by the mob

Sadie is left permanently disfigured by Clayton's acts and it forces Jake to reevaluate his business. While he could kill Oswald before the assassin spends months in New Orleans, he realizes he's too tied to Sadie's life. Starting over to come back and save her all over again would take years of his life without a guarantee of success. And with that, he decides to stay with her and wait for his next opportunity. A new Jodie Jamboree is organized to pay for Sadie's mounting hospital bills and treatments, and it takes months before Jake is able to resume his work. He asks Sadie if she would leave Jodie and their time and never come back if it would fix her face and, in turn, he admits he's from the future. She agrees to join him, over time, as he places his last bets for extra cash (based on Al's notes), and aims to speak directly to George de Mohrenschildt (a decision that gets him no closer to understanding if Oswald committed his act alone). The bet Jake makes on a televised prize fight ends up being one more opportunity for the past to be obdurate. He wins the bet but his bookie's mob connections track him down at his home, beat him up, and send him to the hospital with severe injuries. Enough to keep him out of commission for months.

From Quiz 11/22/63

Answer: a scarred face

Vince Knowles had a drunk driving accident, though it was not revealed as such right away. Jake learned that later. Poor Bobbi Jill Allnut had suffered a facial laceration that left her disfigured. Afterward, she became so depressed and embarrassed by her face that she attempted suicide. That prompted Jake to organize a fund raiser so that Bobbi Jill could pay for some cosmetic repairs. The resulting surgery was a complete success, leaving her new scar to be only of the faintest white line. But, as time went on, Jake began to realize that the past was "harmonizing itself" more and more. It would not be too much longer before Sadie Dunhill would be subjected to a facial disfigurement much more severe than Bobbi Jill had suffered.

From Quiz 11/22/63

Answer: He killed himself

It turned out that John Clayton had been stalking Sadie, just as Jake/George had warned many people might be true. But, in the 1960s the certainty of psychosis was not discussed ad nauseum on television and in best selling books. People were still stuck in ideals of human nature, not butting into people's issues, and to some extent that women were not entirely worth protecting from men they'd married. So, John was able to walk right past Deke Simmons, who loved Sadie, and have Deke not make issue of it. Deke convinced himself it was not John. Just as Jake was about to go and observe Oswald attempt to kill the racist General Edwin Walker, he was interrupted. First it was Marina Oswald knocking at his door looking for her husband Lee. Then, the phone rang and it was John. John was in Jodie and had Sadie hostage. He gave Jake just enough time to drive back from Dallas or he'd kill her. Jake enlisted the help of Deke to distract John. It worked, but not before Sadie was severely injured and John had killed himself.

From Quiz 11/22/63

Answer: He'd been nearly beaten to death

Jake had taken opportunities to place sure win bets in the past, to help supplement his income. He was almost killed by a bookie in Florida, very early on in the book. The first attempt was a house bombing at his rental place, but Jake's instincts had him out of there just in the nick of time. Afterward, he became a teacher in Texas and had no need for much betting income. But, in an attempt to get more money for Sadie's reconstructive surgeries, he placed one last bet on a boxing match. He only made a $1500 profit, and had tried to avoid any mobster ties in placing the bet. But, it all came back around. The past was obdurate, and fought all change. It also harmonized itself. Jake was out of luck, and the past was fighting back hard. After closing out his rental on Neely Street, Jake was attacked by men from the first bad bookie who'd be warned by the bookie who placed his very last, most recent, bet. He almost died. In the weeks of rehab that followed, he fought to regain his memories, as his damaged body healed as much as it could.

From Quiz 11/22/63

Answer: Harry Dunning

Jake came through the bubble and found himself in an abandoned convenience store. There was no Al's Diner in this brave new world. Outside he found a world of stifling depression. The town was in tatters and basically abandoned itself. He did find Harry Dunning, his former pupil and son of Frank Dunning, in a wheelchair stuck in a rut in the road. He helped Harry and they went into Harry's place to talk about a history Jake knew nothing about. Saving Kennedy had ended life as we all know it. Not only did the past fight back in the way of potentially apocalyptic earth quaking, but there had been no Civil Rights Movement, no President Johnson, no end to the Vietnam conflict, and America was geographically altered. Japan had lost four islands to seismic activities, and the end of the world was predicted to be in about 70 more years based on the non stop earthquakes devouring the planet. So, Jake once more went back through the bubble and reset the disaster of saving JFK. This also saved Sadie and he wanted to be with her again, so he did not return home immediately. Finally, Jake realized he had no choice. He came back through the bubble into Al's Diner and to the 2011 he remembered. He went back to teaching, but left Lisbon Falls. He did some internet research and found out that John Clayton had still stalked and attacked Sadie in Jodie, Texas. She survived when Deke and Miz Ellie arrived in time. John still killed himself the same way, and Sadie went on to live a very productive life. She never married again, but had served several terms as a politician. Jake had to see her again, so he he traveled back to Jodie and had one more dance with an 80 year old Sadie Dunhill. She felt like she knew him and admitted the death of JFK had inspired her political interests. Jake told her that they had known each other.. in another life.

This is category 22355

= Top 5% Rated Quiz, Top 10% Rated Quiz, Top 20% Rated Quiz, A Well Rated Quiz
= added recently, = Editor's Pick = FunTrivia Editor = Gold Member
Teachers / educators: FunTrivia welcomes the use of our website and quizzes in the classroom as a teaching aid or for preparing and testing students. See our education section. Our quizzes are printable and may be used as question sheets by k-12 teachers, parents, and home schoolers.

 ·  All questions, answers, and quiz content on this website is copyright FunTrivia, Inc and may not be reproduced without permission. Any images from TV shows and movies are copyright their studios, and are being used under "fair use" for commentary and education.