Review Questions: Chapter 1
1. In this opening chapter of the novel, no human characters appear by name. Does this seem strange to you? How many novels have you read in which no individual character is introduced within the first few pages? As a reader, does this approach appeal to you, turn you off, or does it in itself make no significant difference?
2. Rather than revolving around human characters, the first chapter focuses on two objects: a tree and a hospital. What similarities in these two objects are described in the chapter? What are their primary differences? As they are described here, do you see these objects as made up of primarily good or bad qualities, or are they a mixture of both?
3. Consider the possible meaning of both the tree and the medical center in their larger contexts. The tree is said to represent "all trees, and by extension all things which nature engendered." The hospital, in turn, is described as a "therapeutic temple" wherein life is placed "under human control" and time is governed by "human discretion." Do these descriptions suggest the presence of an inherent conflict between the things that these two objects represent? If so, how would you describe that conflict? Would you say that these two objects are in any way in competition with each other?