by Mary Gordon
10. How does Simone Weil play into Genevieve’s life? And how does this role change as time passes and the war starts, with their being on different continents? How does time and space affect their relationship?
11. What is the importance of mothers in “Simone Weil in New York,” both Genevieve’s mother and Simone’s mother, as well as Genevieve herself as a new mother?
12. Why do Simone and Genevieve’s brother have such a bond?
13. Describe the story of the intellectual in the factory. Why does the author include this story?
14. What is the importance of religion, and the role of God, in the second novella?
15. What role does World War II play in the second and third novellas?
16. What are the trans-Atlantic (Old World-New World; Europe–United States) interactions and differences expressed in these novellas? Contrast Europe and America in the 1940s as set in the third novella. What does America represent?
17. Three of the novellas are told in the third person, while “Thomas Mann in Gary, Indiana” is told in the first person. Why do you think the author has decided to use a first-person male narrator to tell the story in this novella? How does this affect our reading?
18. How does Thomas Mann change the life of the high school boy? What does he symbolize for the boy when his brother’s friend is killed?
19. The narrator contrasts Mann with his mother: “What I came to understand was: Thomas Mann was great. Thomas Mann had greatness. And my mother did not” (this page). Why?
20. Describe Theresa’s various teachers, from the nuns of her high school to her art history professor to Gregory Allard. What does she learn from each of them?
21. What is the importance of great teachers in the other novellas? Who are the teachers? Are they the people we expect to be our teachers?
22. Had you previously heard of the fifteenth-century sculptor Matteo Civitali? What do you think of his art? Does reading “Fine Arts” change your opinion of him or introduce you to his work?
23. Why does Theresa commit an uncharacteristic act of vandalism near the end of “Fine Arts”? How does it change her life?
24. What is Theresa’s relationship with the nuns at her high school? What do they represent for her, and what do they do for her ultimately?
25. All of the stories concern the power of great literature and words and/or art. What do you think the author is saying about the importance of art and literature in our lives? In our histories?
Suggested Reading
Mary Gordon, The Stories of Mary Gordon
Ali Smith, The First Person and Other Stories
Lorrie Moore, Bark
Francesca Marciano, The Other Language
Charles Baxter, Gryphon
Mary Gaitskill, Don’t Cry
