54 pages • 1 hour read
LeAnne HoweShell Shaker
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2001A 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
When Tema tells Borden about her vision, he argues that Tema is irrational, that she is claiming “that speech determines actions. Like God saying, ‘let there be light,’ and the lights come on” (loc 727). What is the relationship between speech and actions in the novel? Do they determine actions, as Tema claims, or are they separate, as Borden believes?
During Auda’s lecture on Choctaw history, Adair grows uncomfortable with her sister’s language. Why does Adair wince when Auda berates one of the white audience members?
After Auda’s lecture, Adair realizes that Auda is drunk and wonders why the “stereotype [has] to be Indians and alcohol? Why couldn’t it be Indians and race cars, or Indians and chocolate wafers?” (loc 913). Similarly, when Auda meets Gore again after the murder, she comments, “Never give whiskey to an Indian” (loc 2142), and in the section when Father Renoir is preparing to leave with Neshoba, he thinks, “Indians degenerate over brandy more so than other races” (loc 3475). Do these incidents emphasize or undermine stereotypes about Indigenous people and alcohol?
Adair collects stories about “uncommon deaths” and is “fascinated with the macabre” (loc 982). What does this hobby tell the reader about Adair’s character?
One of the events that Isaac believes indicates the big changes coming to the Choctaw community is the theft of “the town’s most treasured sculpture, Durant’s Big Peanut” (loc 1024). What might the peanut symbolize in the story?
Isaac notes, “Choctaw councils met for nearly twenty years before deciding to move against Red Shoes” (loc 1481). Why did it take that long for the Choctaw people to decide to stop Red Shoes?
Many of the characters note that Redford wasn’t always an Osano. What made him change?
Tema points out the similarities between the beliefs of the Sufis, a branch of Islam characterized by its mysticism, and the Choctaw. What are the similarities between the beliefs of the Choctaw and other religions like Christianity and Judaism?
For Isaac, Hoppy, and his friend, Nick, Big Mother Porcupine takes on the form of Divine Sarah, or Sarah Bernhardt, a legendary French actress in the late-19th and early-20th centuries. Why would a trickster character take on this persona?
Auda is acquitted of Redford’s murder, though she did in fact shoot him (though Shakbatina claims it is her hand that pulled the trigger). Should Auda have been punished for what she did?
