ANSWER KEY

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

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

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?

ESSAY TOPICS / BOOK REPORT IDEAS

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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