Review Questions: Chapter 13

 

1.      At the beginning of this chapter we learn that Rachel’s roommate is Allison, her friend from college.  Given that Rachel was so eager to leave Bazelton after graduating from high school, does it seem strange that she would now be living there again a few years later?  What reason(s) do you think she might have had for returning?  Why do you suppose that Allison has accompanied her?

 

2.      What is the nature of Eppie’s relationship with her new roommates, especially Allison, two weeks after she has moved in with them?  Do you think Eppie is justified in feeling the way she does?  What is the “one disconcerting fact” that Eppie has avoided revealing to them?  Why would she hesitate to disclose this to them?

 

3.      What is the nature of Rachel’s relationship with Allison?  Has it changed much since the two women were in college together?  To which roommate does Eppie seem to feel closer?  Why?

 

4.      Consider the group of people who meet in Rachel and Allison’s apartment.  Do you see them as primarily similar or dissimilar characters?  What factors serve to unite them?  What other factors divide them?  How do these competing factors strengthen or weaken the group as a whole?

 

5.      During the meeting, Billy advocates a different course of action for the group to take than the one Allison prefers, and the others among the group are left to take sides.  Which of these two characters do you think makes the best case for their point of view?  If you were a member of the group, whose side do you think you would support?  What would you say to the other members of the group if you were given the chance to comment on the discussion?

 

6.      How does Billy’s behavior among this group differ from Doctor Wheelan’s behavior when she disagreed with her colleagues at the staff meeting in Chapter 10?  Compare the group dynamics at each of these two meetings.  How are the two meetings, and the groups of people involved, similar, and how are they different?

 

7.      What effect does the meeting among the others seem to have on Eppie?  Why would their discussion have this effect on her?