The Green Glass Sea

How do Philip Gordon and Terry Gordon’s opposing points of view on the use of atomic warfare establish the for and against arguments that must have been taking place in the office of Harry Truman in 1945? With whom do you agree?

Describe how the recurring motif of science unites the story’s characters, including Dewey and Suze, Dewey and Terry, Dewey and Papa, and Suze with her parents.

How do you believe the news of the bombing of Hiroshima, which would reach the characters shortly after the novel’s conclusion, have been received by the story’s characters? How might it have affected Terry and Philip’s marriage?

In earlier chapters, Suze figures that the weapon that the scientists are developing is probably a “gadget gun,” like the ones she reads about in her comics. How does this innocent perspective affect the way the story is told and received? Does this point of view serve to create further discomfort in the reader about the bomb’s development?

How can the text be considered subtly feminist, especially in terms of the characterization of Dewey and Terry?

How does Suze’s behavior toward Dewey in the earlier chapters illustrate the way that bullies beget bullies?

Through a reference to Hanukkah, the reader learns that the Gordons are Jewish. What is the relevance of this cultural identity, given the broader geopolitical context? Why might this motivate the Gordons in terms of their affiliation with the Manhattan Project?

Are the choices of Dewey and Suze to push Joyce over and spit on her somewhat justifiable? Explain your answer with textual evidence.