Anything Is Possible

What influence does Lucy Barton have over the people who still live in her hometown? How does this influence contrast with Lucy’s reaction to being back in Amgash in Chapter 6?

Select two of the families in the novel. How does the past impact each family’s present? How do individual characters within the families navigate their roles and relationships?

How is Amgash both a setting and a symbol? Use evidence from the text to support your analysis.

Choose two characters from different parts of the novel, and compare their challenges and conflicts. How do they differ? How are they similar? What connects them? End your analysis with a consideration of why Strout uses different characters to express her themes.

What is Strout’s central theme or message in the novel? Choose three characters that best exemplify this theme and analyze how these characters help Strout convey her message.

Crucial to each plot is the conflict between the individual and life’s unpredictability. How does Strout use her characters to demonstrate the different ways people navigate this conflict? Which characters seem to navigate it well, and which characters struggle to come to terms with it?

Which character do you find the most interesting or poignant? Explain your answer and use evidence from the text to show how Strout uses language and structure to humanize this character.

In Chapter 1, Tommy relies on his faith in God to see him through life’s challenges. Does Tommy’s faith parallel or challenge Strout’s theme on the unpredictability of life?