I'm not sure I can say that I enjoyed this book, but it really got under my skin. I found some discussion questions online from the publisher (indicated by *), some of which I expanded on (indicated by **). I added a bunch of my own as well.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS for GATHER THE
DAUGHTERS by Jennie Melamed
**1. What do
you think about Janey's claim that there are no Wastelands? What evidence is
there to support this? Is there evidence that the Wastelands exist? How do you
interpret Vanessa’s view of the Wastelands (mainland) as she approaches them at
the end of the book?
*2. How have
their upbringings and their relationships to their fathers’ upbringing affected
Janey, Caitlin, Mary, Vanessa, and Amanda?
**3. At Mrs.
Balthazar's party, Denise asks Amanda, "What happens to the sons, when the
fathers leave?" What does this statement signify? Does it change your view
of the Island? What do you think happened to the young men who disappeared? Did
they commit suicide?
**4. How
culpable are the men for abusing their daughters, when their culture and
religion expects it of them? How does this level of responsibility compare to
someone who abuses a child in our society? What do you think of Janey’s
father’s perspective on his “obligation” to his daughters? What about Vanessa’s
father’s approach to this issue?
5. How
culpable are the women for allowing their husbands to abuse their daughters,
when their culture and religion expects it of them? How can we make sense of
their willingness to participate in this? Can you think of examples in other
cultures where women allow daughters to be abused, such as Chinese foot binding
or African female genital mutilation? How do we account for this?
6. What do
you think of the daughters’ acquiescence to the Island’s culture of incest? Do
you think it is realistic? Can you think of examples, like religious cults,
where this sort of thing happens in real life? Do more girls (in real life)
rebel against it?
7. What do
you think of the Island’s method of dealing with people as they age? Why do you
think the Wanderers chose to eliminate people so (relatively) early in their
lives (once they could no longer reproduce)? What did you think about Vanessa’s
reaction to Mrs Adam’s tale of her grandmother?
8. Why do
you think Janey was the only one to rebel? What did you think about the other
daughters’ initial reaction to Janey’s “sermon” – just thinking about alternate
islands with year around summer or better food, but not thinking about a
different social order or escape from submission to their fathers? Do you think
that is realistic? What do you think the author was trying to say by having
Janey’s “sermon” play out like this?
9. What did
you think of the way that girls are initiated into “fruition” (with a multiple
week orgy)? What did you think of the Island’s way of letting young people run
wild all summer? What did you think were the functions of those traditions? Can
you think of any examples in real life that compare, such as the Amish Rumspringa?
*10. Are
there any elements of life on the Island that you could see existing in real
life, now or in the future? If so, which ones?
11. What do
you think about Vanessa’s access to books? What do you think the author is
saying about books and reading? Do you think Vanessa would have been as
naturally curious and questioning without having spent time reading?
12. What do
you think of Vanessa’s father’s reaction when he realizes that other Wanderers
have murdered Island residents? What do you think of Vanessa’s reaction to his
reaction?
13. What did
you think of the sickness that came to the Island? What do you think happened?
Do you think this is realistic? What did you think of the Islanders response to
the illness? What did you think of the Wanderers response to the aftermath of
the illness?
14. Where do
you think Vanessa’s father got the medicine he forced Vanessa to take? Why did
Vanessa resist taking it? What do you think the Wanderers should have done
about the illness and about the medicine?
15. What did
you think of Janey’s death? What do you think was her cause of death? Do you think her death
was inevitable? What do you think the author was trying to say about her
character? Was her character a savior? Christ-like?
16. What did you think of Caitlyn's suicide? Do you think her death was inevitable? Did you think it was noble or hopeless or cowardly?
17. What did
you think about the Wanderers recruitment campaign? How do you think they were
finding participants from the mainland? What do you think of the observation
“Maybe there are no more men like the Wanderers”? What do you imagine the
original Wanderers were like?
18. What did
you think of the Island economy (subsistence farming and bartering)? What do
you think the Wanderers used for money when they went to the mainland to get
glass for windows and other things?
*19. In many
works of fiction, we see utopias quickly descending into dystopias. Do you
think the Island was originally a utopia, or was it always a dystopia for its
inhabitants? How and why do utopias often turn into dystopias?
*19. Which
character did you feel the strongest connection to? Did this change over the
course of the novel?
*20. Which
scenes or developments in the novel affected you the most?
*21. What
did you make of the novel’s end? Did you want more closure?
22. How do you think Vanessa and her family fare on the mainland? Do you think they are able to adapt?
*23. Where do you see
the characters in ten years? Do you think the Island continues to exist or is it discovered and disbanded?
24. Would you like the author to write a sequel?
If so, what would you like to see happen in it?
25. Is your
reaction to the novel altered at all by hearing that the author is (in real
life) a nurse who has worked with children who are victims of abuse and trauma?
* Questions
from the publisher, Little, Brown and Company
** Questions
from the publisher, supplemented by questions from Danielle
All other
questions (those unmarked) are created by Danielle
Labels: books
