Review Questions: Chapter 23

1.      Consider Rachel’s initial reaction to the news of Eppie’s arrest.  How is her reaction, and her ensuing interaction with Allison, different from her earlier behavior in the story?  Has the interaction of these two characters returned to normal by the end of the chapter?  How would you account for these changes?

2.      Why does Rachel, as she approaches her parents’ house to confront her father, want her rage “to be good and raw”?  What sight causes her to momentarily lose her anger?  Why must she “fight to recover it”?  Does her father, in their subsequent argument, seem to be aware of this vulnerability in her?  Perhaps even more aware of it than Rachel herself?  How does Rachel choose to deal with this vulnerability on her part?

3.      Consider the title to this chapter.  How does it relate to the events which occur here?  Identify three distinct references to glass in the chapter.  What symbolic significance can you find in each of these objects as they are used in the text?  Why does the chapter title specifically mention unbroken glass?