KEY FACTS SUMMARY

 

Title
Mountains Beyond Mountains: The Quest of Dr. Paul Farmer, A Man Who Would Cure the World

Author
Tracy Kidder

Date Published
2003

Meaning of the Title
It refers to the main character's determination to bring health and happiness to the poor and comes from the Haitian proverb, Beyond Mountains There Are Mountains.

Setting
Boston and Cambridge, Massachusetts; Cange, Mirebalais, and Port-au-Prince, Haiti; Lima, Peru; Tomsk, Siberia, Russia; Paris, France from 1982 through 2003.

Protagonist
Dr. Paul Farmer

Antagonists
Poverty and the lack of caring from people who could help end it.

Mood
The mood is often troubling and dark, but there are so many lights of hope along the way that reader can't help but feel uplifted by the end.

Point of View
The point of view is first person, told from Tracy Kidder's viewpoint. This allows the reader to personally experience how Kidderlearns and grows from his experiences with Paul Farmer.

Tense
The story is told in the past tense.

Rising Action
The rising action begins when Tracy Kidder meets Paul Farmer while he..........

 

The complete study guide is currently available as a downloadable PDF, RTF, or MS Word DOC file from the PinkMonkey MonkeyNotes download store. The complete study guide contains summaries and notes for all of the chapters; detailed analysis of the themes, plot structure, and characters; important quotations and analysis; detailed analysis of symbolism, motifs, and imagery; a key facts summary; detailed analysis of the use of foreshadowing and irony; a multiple-choice quiz, and suggested book report ideas and essay topics.