1.) c
2.) d
3.) c
4.) d
5.) b
6.) c
7.) a
8.) c
9.) d
10.) b
11.) b
12.) a
13.) d
14.) a
15.) b
1. How are Melony and Candy different? How are they the same? Why does Irving
portray almost all of the women in this novel as strong, smart, and willful?
2. How does Irving depict the abortion debate? What position do you
think Irving takes on the issue?
3. Discuss the many rules in this novel. Who has rules and what are those
rules?
4. Melony, one of the most sexual beings in the novel, has a 15-year relationship
with a woman. How does her relationship with Lorna relate to the central
issues of abortion and rules in this novel?
5. Discuss the issue of race. Race is a minor issue in this novel but
is present. What is the relationship between the races in the novel and
how is it depicted?
6. What are the events in Larch's life that make him come to the decision
to be an obstetrician and an abortionist?
7. Would Melony agree, given her relationships with Homer and Lorna, with
Larch's assessment that love was a disease?
8. Why does Homer feel horror when he realizes that Olive loves him?
1. Dr. Larch holds many strong convictions and follows his own set of rules.
What are Larch's beliefs toward abortion? What are his beliefs toward
orphans and how they think and act and what they need? How does he justify
his convictions?
2. Several characters live and act by their own rules. What is Irving saying
about rules? What is the relationship between these sets of individual
rules and the rules of society?
3. Discuss how Irving shows the complexities of the abortion debate through
the actions and relationships of the characters in this novel.
4. Discuss the theme of choice that occurs throughout the novel. How does
choice or the lack of choices affect the lives of Homer and Candy, for
instance?
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