Ronnie, the Evil Hippie Trivia Quiz

Answer: Pan

Captain America was the nickname of Peter Fonda's character in "Easy Rider." Oberon is the king of the fairies. Sky Dog is the name of a different character.

Pan, usually depicted as a satyr with a reed pipe, is the Greek god of shepherds. He is associated with male virility and unbridled carnal desire. He was not held in high regard by the other gods. According to Plutarch, Pan is the only Greek god who is dead.

The two names, Ronnie and Pan, usually appear within a few words of each other, and he is not consistently referred to as "Pan" by other characters in the book. They seem to call him by his chosen nickname either when they are feeling friendly to him or when they are being sarcastic. The constant play between the two names matches the uncertain quality of his relationship with Drop City.

Answer: He was a heroin addict.

Heroin is one drug he doesn't use anymore.

Answer: Guys are "cats" and women are "chicks".

Star doesn't like these slang terms because of the gender stereotypes they reinforce: men are independent and predatory carnivores, and women are innocent, like baby chicks.

Answer: About six months

Ronnie tells the professor "a year and a half," but it's a lie: "And it wasn't just that he was mumbling, he was exaggerating too - six months was nearer the truth. But the professor didn't want any six-month hippies, he wanted the genuine down-in-the-trenches peripatetic lifetime dirtbags he could awe and thrill the reading public with."

Answer: Destroying the property of his rival, Marco

Marco blames the destruction of his property on Sky Dog, not Ronnie. Of the other answers, Star is able to figure out that Ronnie took her money, but she never has the chance to confront him about it. Ronnie is, at one point, accused of participating in the rape, but no one can prove it, and he never suffers any repercussions.

His personal use of the hunting rifles and the money intended to buy supplies in town led to his banishment from Drop City North.

Answer: He is the hunter who provides meat for the group.

Ironically, he has to beg people to eat his meat because most of the group prefers vegetarian food until they reach Alaska. Since he nearly gives everyone shellfish poisoning and ineptly handles the deer he killed, it can be said that he is none too good at his chosen role.

The pathetic comedy of this showcases Boyle's humorous talent. However, according to the author, Drop City is his first non-comic novel. For his efforts at hunting and fishing, Ronnie earns his caricature painted on the side of the bus: it shows him proudly holding two minnows.

Answer: Pan

Ronnie dressed as Pan, "with a pair of leftover devil's horns painted forest brown," and Star dressed as a cat, "in tights and a velvet shell that clung to her in all the right places." They don't have costumes this year.

Answer: Joe Bosky, the bush pilot

"Nobody much liked Joe Bosky--he was respected, feared maybe--but he wasn't the sort of cat people would praise for his gentleness and the niceness of his manners. Ronnie dug him, though."

Answer: Reba, the mother of Che and Sunshine

Star was Ronnie's lover during their trip to Drop City and for a short time afterwards. Merry and Lydia were with him after Star. The book only mentions Reba sleeping with Alfredo and Jiminy.

Answer: Rum that is too cold

The rum that Ronnie drank was supercooled, which means that it was cooled below the freezing point without freezing. About this error of judgement Sess Harder reflected in the last chapter, "Bosky had frozen to death, and so had Pan--after doing something so unthinking and senseless not even the wild hairs could believe it."