Michael+Fried

First reading work:

Connection master:
 * 1) At one point the man is cursing God for the state the world is in. Even now people have conflicts about religion. One major argument about religion is similar to what happened in this book: “How can there be an all loving, all powerful God that allows suffering in the world?” I know I have felt this way before.
 * 2) Humans are drawn to things that are human. We are social creatures. I enjoy being with friends and other people, most of the time. In the book, the man and the boy are drawn to each other. They share a quintessentially human bond. They are also drawn to man-made structures and objects that must invoke some sort of hope in them.
 * 3) Whenever the boy asks the man for something, the man replies: "Yes. Of course you can." This could be a way for the man to give the boy all he can in a world where there is nothing. As a son, I think I can understand this. Although my father does not spoil me by giving me anything that I ask for, I can tell that he truly wants me to be happy. I think that the man is trying to be a good father for the boy, and is trying to make the boy as happy as possible.

Connection master:


 * 1) The boy had a nightmare about a toy penguin. In this post-apocalyptic world, we do not know how much about penguins the boy actually knew. For all we know, the boy considered penguins the equivalent of lions or bears, and could not know better. This nonsensical nightmare scared the boy, and it is easy to relate with being scared of something you do not understand.
 * 2) The man came across his old home. The boy was against going inside it. I am sure the boy had bad experiences with his family in the past, perhaps finding them dead. Going into a home that used to hold loved ones would probably only lead to sadness.

Second reading work

Vocabulary:


 * 1) skein- anything wound in or resembling such a coil
 * 2) emaciation- t o make or become extremely thin, especially as a result of starvation
 * 3) truncheoned- clubbed, cudgeled

Third reading work

Discussion Director:


 * 1) In this post-apocalyptic world, is the only consolation the man can give the boy that "they are the good guys?"
 * 2) Why has the man not thought seriously about suicide? Does he truly believe he will reach the haven?
 * 3) What did the man and boy think when they found the bunker?
 * 4) Is the pistol really important or is it more like a symbol of safety for the man and boy?
 * 5) What does the book tell us about despair? About freedom?

Fourth Reading work

Literary Luminary:


 * 1) "Even now some part of him wished they'd never found this refuge. Some part of him always wished it to be over." (154)
 * 2) "The answer is no. What is the question? Can we keep him. We can't." (165)
 * 3) "When he woke he was sick." (186)
 * 4) "Beyond that the ocean vast and cold and shifting heavily like a slowly heaving vat of slag and then the gray squall line of ash." (215)