4. Consider the author's choice of chapter titles. Some relate directly to subject of the chapter ("Waiting"), others introduce ideas not explicitly explored until later chapters ("You'll Turn Out Ordinary if You're Not Careful"), while still others echo ideas from previous chapters ("Cryogenics"). What, in your opinion, is the purpose of these titles? What do they reveal about the author's overall narrative approach?
5. Riley says that she missed the call for a potential heart transplant because she was swimming. Do you believe this? Is there some part of Riley—conscious or unconscious—that is seeking death?
6. As a child, Riley wonders what would happen if the dolphins in the aquarium at Coney Island could talk to the dolphins swimming in the ocean. "What would a free dolphin say to a captive one? How could one possibly understand the circumstances of the other?" How does this passage relate to the larger themes of the novel? Discuss the symbolic role of the Coney Island dolphins.
4. ???? I don't know. ha!
ReplyDelete5. I believe that she was swimming when the call came for the heart transplant. I don't think that she was seeking death, I just think she was avoiding the fact that she was sick. She didn't want to face anything that would shake up her little world, just like she didn't want to face A and P's relationship, even though she really knew what was going on.
FROM NAOMI
ReplyDelete4. I have to say that a lot of this completely escaped me. Maybe she was trying some foreshadowing?
5. I do believe she was swimming, doing the one thing that made her really happy. She wasn't seeking death, but she'd rather really live than do anything half-heartedly. I'm sure she was mad at herself for missing it, but it seemed to me she was in denial of the whole diagnosis, just waiting for it to go away.
6. This was so sad. It's as if Riley felt captive and was only really free when she was swimming. She wanted to swim in the ocean rather than be limited by the gym's pool, just as the captive dolphins don't even know there is a free ocean.
4. I'm glad I'm not the only one who doesn't have a clue. I honestly didn't pay much attention at all to the chapter titles.
ReplyDelete5. I think she probably saw the page and kept swimming. I don't think she was seeking death but maybe was in denial that it would actually happen. Like she went running knowing it wasn't a good idea, but maybe didn't really feel like anythiing would happen- she was pretty fearless.
Not sure about the dolphins...but I did start talking outloud when she did miss the call from the doctor. I couldn't believe she was swimming while she was so so sick. It made me mad...
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