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| Edward R. Murrow |
11. Will says that “everything adds up,” but Frankie disagrees, saying that life is a series of “random, incomprehensible accidents.” Which philosophy do you believe? Which theory does The Postmistress make a better case for?
12. After Thomas tells his story of escape, the old woman in the train compartment says “There was God looking out for you at every turn.” Thomas disagrees. “People looked out. Not God.” He adds, “There is no God. Only us.” How does this novel raise the questions of faith in wartime? How does this connect to the decisions Iris and Frankie make with regard to Emma?
13. Why do you think Maggie’s death compels Will to leave for England?
14. What are the pleasures and drawbacks of historical novels? Is there a case to be made that this book is not about the 1940’s so much as it uses the comfortable distance of that time and place in order to ask questions about war?
15. Why does Otto refuse to tell the townspeople that he’s Jewish? Do you think he’s right not to do so?
16. Why is the certificate of virginity so important to Iris? What does it tell us about her character?
17. When Frankie returns to America, she finds it impossible to grasp that people are calmly going about their lives while war rages in Europe. What part does complacency play in this story?
3 comments:
I've posted the second set of questions for The Postmistress.
Part I of second set of DQs:
9. If you were Iris, would you have delivered the letter? Why or why not? Was she wrong not to deliver it? What good, if any, grew up in the gap of time Emma didn’t know the news? What was taken from Emma in not knowing immediately what happened?
I thought Iris gave Emma the letter once it was official that Will was dead. The gap in time between the formal news of Will's death and his actual death probably allowed Emma to ease into the acceptance of his death without the sudden shock of the news. Will was just as dead whether Emma was told about it from the first or later. Personally, I think if others know of a death that it should be shared with the people directly involved.
10. Seek Truth. Report it. Minimize Harm. That is the journalist’s code, and it haunts Frankie during the book. Why wasn’t Frankie able to deliver the letter or tell Emma about meeting Will? For someone whose job was to deliver the news, did she fail?
I think that Frankie had romantic feelings towards Will that compromised her ability to live up to the journalist's code. The delivery or mailing of the letter became a personal responsility of Frankie's rather than a job responsibility. I think her decision to delay mailing and then not giving the letter to Emma was a questionable, albeit understandable, personal decision. I think that any failure of job responsibility relates more to her not following up with stories relating to the recordings she made and of taking the recordings with her when she fled from her job.
11. Will says that “everything adds up,” but Frankie disagrees, saying that life is a series of “random, incomprehensible accidents.” Which philosophy do you believe? Which theory does The Postmistress make a better case for?
I tend to agree with Will that there are reasons that things happen. Given the way that the characters wind up having their lives interconnected, I think that The Postmistress better supports that there are connections between events rather than everything just being random.
12. After Thomas tells his story of escape, the old woman in the train compartment says “There was God looking out for you at every turn.” Thomas disagrees. “People looked out. Not God.” He adds, “There is no God. Only us.” How does this novel raise the questions of faith in wartime? How does this connect to the decisions Iris and Frankie make with regard to Emma?
Thomas's comment as well as when Frankie tells Max "No matter how much we all want some old man up there, there sure as hell isn't anyone watching over it all. It's just an empty sky, Max." both raise the question of faith whether in wartime or not. In war, some people imply that everyone grasps for faith (I'd heard that in WWII soldiers in both the German and US forces had "God is on our side" on their belts), but I think war also causes people to question, as Frankie and Thomas did, the existence of God wondering how a God could allow such horrible acts to occur.
I'm not sure how the questions of faith directly relate to the decisions that Frankie and Iris made in terms of telling the truth. Although their action of inaction could be viewed as a kindness, neither were acting on the biblical teaching of "the truth shall set you free" (paraphrased).
Part II of second set of DQs:
13. Why do you think Maggie’s death compels Will to leave for England?
I thought he'd been haunted already by the misery his father had caused the community when his bank failed and he didn't want his life in the community to also be a failure. He felt responsible for Maggie's death and didn't feel that he could continue to serve the community with her death hanging over his head.
14. What are the pleasures and drawbacks of historical novels? Is there a case to be made that this book is not about the 1940’s so much as it uses the comfortable distance of that time and place in order to ask questions about war?
Historical novels help one feel that they are gaining a better understanding of a historical event/period. However, with the tincture of time one looks back at events with the wisdom of knowing the outcome and consequences of the actions that occurred during the event/period. It is much easier to ask questions about war and reflect on a specific war when you have the buffer of time between the event and the writing/reading of the novel.
15. Why does Otto refuse to tell the townspeople that he’s Jewish? Do you think he’s right not to do so?
Otto has fled from persecution because he is Jewish. American policy and behavior show intolerance as well. Otto's reluctance to share much about his background are understandable. It would be judgemental to label his reluctance as right or wrong.
16. Why is the certificate of virginity so important to Iris? What does it tell us about her character?
I found Iris' documentation of her virginity to be interesting. It is as if she wants to prove to Harry that she is "pure" and is giving herself as such to him. If her virginity were that important to him, it would seem that he should just ask and take her word for it. Instead she obtained the documentation before the subject was even addressed. It was indeed different. Such documentation could be viewed as even more important in today's life with the rampant rise in STD's and seriousness of the impact of AIDS yet I can't imagine couples expecting such documentation today.
17. When Frankie returns to America, she finds it impossible to grasp that people are calmly going about their lives while war rages in Europe. What part does complacency play in this story?
And the band played on.
I thought the book did a good job of portraying the reality of the horrors that were occuring while people either in innocence or probably preference of ignoring the facts just went about their lives.
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