dimarts, 30 d’abril del 2013

amorrada al guió


Discussion Questions

1) At the end of the novel’s first section, the moonflower vine blooms – an event that
is repeated, or described, a number of times in the pages that follow (when
Matthew and Charlotte are alone, for example, and on the last page of the novel).
What is the significance of the blooming moonflower vine? Do you think its
significance is different for each character?

2) In an unsettling portion of the novel, Matthew’s student Charlotte leaves town
after the two share an intimate moment; a short time later, Matthew and Callie
conceive their youngest daughter, Mathy. Describing this series of events, the
narrator states, “Mathy was Charlotte’s child” (p. 174). Discuss the meaning of
that statement.
3) Throughout the novel, Matthew returns to the cemetery on the hill. What
significance does the cemetery have in The Moonflower Vine and, more
specifically, for Matthew?
4) After visiting Ed with his grandson Peter, Matthew comes to the realization that
“fed or hungry, accepted or denied, [Ed] was his own man” (p. 233). What does it
mean to be your own man in this novel? Why do you think Matthew envies Ed?
5) On page 205, Mathy reads Ezra Pound’s poem “An Immorality” to Leonie. What
is the significance of the first stanza – “Sing we for love and idleness, / Naught
else is worth the having” – to the novel? Is “immorality” something that
Carleton’s characters believe in? Does the narrator believe in this philosophy?
6) In many ways, The Moonflower Vine is a novel about freedom. Of its major
characters, who is the freest? What does this say about the author’s conception of
freedom?
7) What is Callie’s great shame? Do you feel that this shame intensifies or weakens
as the novel progresses? What do you make of the ending of the novel, when
Callie ostensibly rids herself of shame?
8) At the novel’s end, Callie spots a white heron and cries out, “O God….I love your
world” (p. 318). What does the heron symbolize, and why does this bird have
such an effect on her?
9) What role does God play in the lives of each character in the novel? How do their
initial conceptions of God change as the characters develop?
10)While marriage clearly constricts a number of the characters in this novel, at other
times it allows them to explore places they never expected to visit. How do you
perceive Jetta Carleton’s message about marriage in The Moonflower Vine?



6 comentaris:

  1. Amics, amigues, ets i uts, ja estic a punt per a l'aquelarre d'avui a les vuit. Tinc un guió. Si us fa gràcia, us podeu preparar les respostes, però heu de saber que jo només l'utilitzaré en cas que la cosa decaigui. Vull dir que si es fa un silenci d'aquells que se sent el rum-rum dels budells del personal, jo treuré el guió i us llegiré les preguntes en versió original. Mal m'està el dir-ho, però sóc molt graciosa, quan parlo en anglès. Semblo la reencarnació de Paco Martínez Soria a que vienen las suecas! Panxó de riure assegurat. Fins després, doncs.

    ResponElimina
  2. Per que no has vist (o escoltat) el meu angleterrès. ("Xamullar" seria el verb que definiria l'estil.)
    I quines ganes d'enfilar-me a Vic pels volts de les vuit!

    ResponElimina
  3. Only one bed to three? Is not possible!
    A casa encara es celebra la meva empenta lingüística davant del taulell d'un hotelasso novaiorquès.

    ResponElimina
  4. Sàs, Girb, és que el número aquell del cuplet de la puça ja el tinc molt explotat. Abans, quan érem dos perquè també hi havia en Mitch, tot era més fàcil. En un cas com aquest ens haguéssim arrencat amb un duet Pimpinela.quien es?. Soy yo. Qué vienes a buscar?. A ti. No és per dir-ho, però el brodàvem.

    ResponElimina
  5. Jetta, molta Jetta...
    -Hase falta dicir nada más?

    ResponElimina
    Respostes
    1. No cale, no, que se t'ha entès tot...i després dius que no saps anglès! I amb accent del penyal de Gibraltar i tot, bandit! Arsa.

      Elimina