DISCUSSION QUESTIONS The Moonflower Vine |
1. At the end of the novel's first
section, The Moonflower Vine blooms – an event that is repeated, or
described, a number of times in the pages that follow (when Matthew and
Charlotte are alone, for example, and on the last page of the novel).
What is the significance of the blooming moonflower vine? Do you think
its significance is different for each character?
2. In an unsettling portion of the
novel, Matthew's student Charlotte leaves town after the two share an
intimate moment; a short time later, Matthew and Callie conceive their
youngest daughter, Mathy. Describing this series of events, the narrator
states, "Mathy was Charlotte's child" (p. 174). Discuss the meaning of
that statement.
3. Throughout the novel, Matthew
returns to the cemetery on the hill. What significance does the cemetery
have in The Moonflower Vine and, more specifically, for Matthew?
4. After visiting Ed with his grandson
Peter, Matthew comes to the realization that "fed or hungry, accepted or
denied, [Ed] was his own man" (p. 233). What does it mean to be your own
man in this novel? Why do you think Matthew envies Ed?
5. On page 205, Mathy reads Ezra
Pound's poem "An Immorality" to Leonie. What is the significance of the
first stanza --- "Sing we for love and idleness, / Naught else is worth
the having" --- to the novel? Is "immorality" something that Carleton's
characters believe in? Does the narrator believe in this philosophy?
6. In many ways, The Moonflower
Vine is a novel about freedom. Of its major characters, who is the
freest? What does this say about the author's conception of freedom?
7. What is Callie's great shame? Do
you feel that this shame intensifies or weakens as the novel progresses?
What do you make of the ending of the novel, when Callie ostensibly rids
herself of shame?
8. At the novel's end, Callie spots a
white heron and cries out, "O God... I love your world" (p. 318). What
does the heron symbolize, and why does this bird have such an effect on
her?
9. What role does God play in the
lives of each character in the novel? How do their initial conceptions
of God change as the characters develop?
10. While marriage clearly constricts a
number of the characters in this novel, at other times it allows them to
explore places they never expected to visit. How do you perceive Jetta
Carleton's message about marriage in The Moonflower Vine? |
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