55 pages • 1 hour read
The Waters
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Essay Topics
From the narrative’s use of the phrase “Once upon a time” (1) to its reliance on tropes such as an evil witch and a troll living in a swamp, the novel explicitly situates itself in a fairy-tale atmosphere. What real-life lessons about human nature are contained within Bonnie Jo Campbell’s invocation of these fairy-tale tropes? Analyze specific examples from the text to support your position.
Hermine, Donkey, and Rose Thorn all suffer significant physical wounds during the course of the novel. What repercussions does each injury have, and how do these wounds parallel one another thematically?
Rose Thorn refuses to tell Donkey the identity of her father. What motivates Rose Thorn’s refusal?
Hermine frequently cautions Donkey about men, whom she calls “brutes.” Identify the story’s primary male antagonists and decide which of these men undergo a form of redemption. Use key scenes from the text to support your analysis.
Rose Thorn declares: “I love this town, and I hate it” (162). What does she mean by this? How has Whiteheart shaped her in the past, and how does it continue to impact her in the present?
Analyze the importance of guns to the men of Whiteheart. What definition of masculinity do guns help to shape?
Roses figure prominently in the names of the Zook women. What are the underlying meanings of this image, and how does it reflect on the theme of Matriarchy and the Power of Women?
Rose Thorn frequently insists that she will begin medical treatment of her cancer on her own terms, when she is ready. At one point, however, she admits that delaying the treatment parallels her delay in aborting her pregnancy when she carried Donkey. Why is Rose Thorn reluctant to treat her cancer? What does she hope to accomplish by delaying?
How does the author portray the physical environment and the effects of climate change, and how do these dynamics contribute to the novel’s main conflicts? In what ways does the environment impact the people who live in Whiteheart?
Why does Titus, after capturing the Massasauga then releasing it, set the trap once again? What has he learned from his experience with the snake? How has he been changed by the events in the novel?
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