Chapter 1: Boy with a Skull
The author sets the story up by having the narrator appear to be on the run from a crime, yet the narrator doesn’t seem like a criminal in any way. What effect does this have when it comes to the narration?
I suggest using an online Dutch-English dictionary to help with the language here.
Why do you think he dreams of his mother in this situation?
Why do you think his memory of the birthday scene is so vivid, so important?
What does it tell you about the narrator’s mother that she strikes up conversations with doormen, waitresses, etc.? What does it tell you about his father that his father was annoyed by this behavior?
What does the negative behavior of the narrator tell you about him? What kind of person is he based on his account of his own bad behavior?
What does the narrator’s handling of his mother’s illness tell you about him?
How does the setting help develop the scene in this chapter?
Beyond the bare facts, what does the history of the narrator’s mother tell us about her as a character?
What is the importance of natures mortes?
What foreshadowing to the paintings provide?
After the explosion, what is the significance of what the narrator imagines in his groggy state? What does this tell you about him?
What is alprazolan usually prescribed for? Is this significant?
Why does he stay for such an intimate moment with the old man when he should have been looking for his mother? Do you think he imagines her there, or is it a spectre or spirit of some sort?
When first encountering the disaster, I was certain that the museum was part of the fallout from the 9/11 tragedy. Later it becomes clear it was a bomb. What part(s) of the description makes it seem that it was related to 9/11? How is it similar?
While the narrator searches for his mother in the wreckage, he encounters a slew of graphic scenes and horribly dismembered people. How does he present this information? What does that tell us about his state of mind?
What do we know at the end of the chapter that he doesn’t? How do we know this?
Chapter 2: The Anatomy Lesson
Chapter 2: The Anatomy Lesson
How would you characterize the narrator’s relationship with his father? How do you think this shapes the narrator?
Once the narrator returns to the apartment and begins searching for his mother, is there anything you think he should have done other than what he did? Can you empathize with his position during this?
When Theodore gets the call from the family services agency, what motivates him to repeatedly lie about his father’s whereabouts?
Why do you think it is easier for us to figure out his mother is dead than it is for Theodore to figure out? What keeps him from figuring out what we knew or suspected long before the knock at the door?