Happy Summer! The
Fairfax Library Book Discussion Group will meet Thursday, August 13th at 7 p.m.
to discuss our August book The
Signature of All Things by Elizabeth Gilbert.
Discussion questions
are below.
Here are some links
for additional background and information:
Article explaining
the Doctrine of Signatures (the signature of all things)
Coming up, we have the
following book to look forward to reading:
Thurs. Sept.
10 Salvage the Bones by
Jesmyn Ward
Thanks for reading
with us. I look forward to seeing you at the Fairfax Library.
Beth Bailey-Gates
Friends of the Fairfax
Library
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
The Signature of All Things by
Elizabeth Gilbert
1. The Signature of All Things takes as its first focus not the
book’s heroine, Alma Whittaker, but her rough-and-tumble father, Henry. Why do
you think Elizabeth Gilbert made this choice in her narration, and why are the
first fifty pages essential to the rest of the novel?
2. Alma Whittaker grows up in the
richest family in Philadelphia. In what ways does her father’s fortune set her
free? In what ways is it a prison?
3. How
does Alma resemble her father? In what crucial ways do they differ?
4. What
role is played in the novel by the Whittakers’ servant Hanneke de Groot? In
what ways is her perspective essential to the story?
5. Alma
postulates that there exist a variety of times, ranging from Human Time to
Divine Time, with Geological Time and Moss Time as points in between (pp.
170-71). How might these different notions of time help to relate the world of
science to the world of miracles? Is the miracle of creation just a natural process
that took a very long time?
6.Gilbert
plays with perspective, not only as it relates to time, but also as it relates
to space. During the course of the novel, Alma must adapt to dealing with
microscopic space as well as global space. At one point, when she plays the
part of a comet in a tableau of the solar system, she even becomes figuratively
a part of outer space. How do Gilbert’s manipulations of space enrich the
experience of reading the novel?
7. Instead of representing Prudence’s abolitionist husband, Arthur Dixon, as an unambiguous hero, Gilbert presents him as a somewhat cracked fanatic, who impoverishes and even endangers his family in the name of an idea. What do you think of Gilbert’s decision to place the cause of abolitionism, which modern thinkers usually find almost impossible to criticize, in the hands of an asocial, self-denying oddball?
7. Instead of representing Prudence’s abolitionist husband, Arthur Dixon, as an unambiguous hero, Gilbert presents him as a somewhat cracked fanatic, who impoverishes and even endangers his family in the name of an idea. What do you think of Gilbert’s decision to place the cause of abolitionism, which modern thinkers usually find almost impossible to criticize, in the hands of an asocial, self-denying oddball?
8. One
of the more unsettling themes of The Signature of All Things is Alma’s habitual masturbation. How
does her autoeroticism fit into the rest of the novel, and is the book
strengthened or weakened by its presence?
9.
Alma’s decision to devote her life to studying mosses is compared to a
“religious conversion” (p. 163). In The
Signature of All Things, science and religion often intertwine. Are
they ever finally reconciled? If so, how? If not, why not?
10.
Alma’s husband, Ambrose Pike, offers her a marriage filled with deep respect,
spiritual love, intellectual adventure-and positively no sex. Should she have
been contented with this arrangement?
11. On
pages 319-20, Alma takes “an honest accounting” of her life thus far. At this
point in her life, is she a success or a failure? What are the arguments on
either side of the question? What are your own criteria for a life well lived?
12. As
Alma sails toward Tahiti, the whaler that carries her is nearly sunk by a
storm. She feels that this brush with violent death was “the happiest
experience of her life” (p. 336). Why might she think this, and what does it
tell us about her character?
13.
Ambrose’s spirituality eventually destroys him, whereas that of the Reverend
Welles, the Tahitian missionary, enables him to cope with isolation and
professional failure. What is the difference between the two men’s spiritual
understandings? Why is one vision destructive and the other saving?
14.
Alma claims at the end of the novel, “I have never felt a need to invent a
world beyond this world. . . . All I ever wanted to know was this world” (p.
497). How has this limitation to her curiosity helped her? Has it harmed her?
15. Why did Gilbert make Alma “ugly” ? Is ugliness essential
to her character? How might her life have been different if she was more
conventionally pretty?
16. Prudence and Alma are depicted as complete opposites but
in what ways are they similar? Do you think Prudence ever envied Alma? Why?
17. Throughout the novel, Prudence often seems to be an
enigma. Do you think she was genuine and sincere or just acting a part? What
were her motives for her actions and her marriage?
18. What was the significance of the party when Alma played
the part of a comet? How does Alma continue to play the part of a comet
throughout her life?
19. Alma's sexuality figures very prominently in the novel.
Why? Does her masturbation serve to make her a more human and sympathetic heroine?
Could the inclusion of those scenes be considered a feminist statement? Why,
then, did Alma remain a virgin throughout her life?
20. Why did Retta Snow go mad? Why did her marriage to George
go so horribly wrong? Why do you think Gilbert chose to have their marriage end
in disaster and once their spouses died, why didn't George and Prudence get
together? Why might Gilbert not have allowed a happy ending for them?
