41 pages • 1 hour read
Miriam ToewsA Complicated Kindness
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2004A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Essay Topics
How is the novel’s depiction of Mennonite culture inherently critical of authority? What does the novel mean in its depiction of religious authority and the harm it causes?
How does Ray’s abandonment of his daughter exemplify the novel’s exploration of the complicated nature of kindness?
Mr. Quiring claims that institutions are the root of the world’s ills, which Nomi disagrees with. What is the novel saying about the relationship between personal agency and institutional power?
How does the setting of a deeply-conservative Mennonite town influence the novel’s coming of age plot? In what unique ways is Nomi being asked to grow up that wouldn’t occur in other environments?
How does the novel function as a feminist critique of religion?
Despite the drastic measures taken against her family by the Mennonite church, Nomi still feels a painful loss in her lapse of faith. How are her feelings a representation of a larger critique of religious institutions?
What does New York mean to Nomi, and why is that important to her?
Nomi divides her family down the middle, with her and Ray on one side and Tash and Trudie on the other. Do you agree with this division? In what ways is it more complicated than that?
How is Lydia’s story arc a broader representation of the novel’s themes, and how does it relate to Nomi’s arc?
Nomi asserts that choosing what story to believe in is what matters. Do you find this a hopeful response to the novel’s events and its depiction of religion? Why or why not?
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By Miriam Toews
