Please answer ONE of the following questions with 200-250 words:
1) How did Doctor Copeland name his children? What kind of expectations did he have toward his children? Why did he think that his children have failed to live up to his expectations?
2) On page 186, Singer had a dream in which Antonapoulos knelt at the top of the steps. The other characters formed a hierarchical relationship with Antonapoulos. How do you interpret this strange dream? How do you relate this dream to the tragic ending of the novel?
3) How did the four characters’ reactions toward Singer’s death suggest their personalities?
4) On page 13, Biff admitted that he had an infatuation with the “freaks” who came into his café. How did he treat those freaks? If himself was a freak as well, how freakish did he behave? What particular freakish behaviors did he have, especially after his wife’s death?
5) This novel can also be understood as Mick Kelly’s painful entry into adulthood. Why did Mick have to give up her dream of becoming a music conductor or composer? How did Mick’s experiences reflect the fate of young women during the late 1930s in the South?
