Crossing the Mangrove

Why do other villagers insist Mira was sexually assaulted by Francis Sancher?

How does this insistence reflect her experiences with racism and misogyny?

Discuss Crossing the Mangrove’s attitude toward gay identity. Does it critique or endorse stereotypes? Do these stereotypes serve a thematic purpose? How might the novel’s treatment of gay identity provide metacommentary on its themes of intersectionality and oppression?

What is the purpose of the incestuous relationship between Mira and her half-brother Aristide? What might it suggest about Rivière au Sel’s relationship with sin?

Do attitudes toward Creolization differ between male and female characters in the novel? How so?

In many ways, Francis Sancher resembles Jay Gatsby in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby (1925). Compare and contrast the two men and their fates.

Condé states in several interviews that her favorite writer is William Faulker (1897-1962), who is known for employing fragmentation and multiple perspectives. Compare and contrast Crossing the Mangrove and Faulkner’s Light in August (1932) in terms of structure and characterization.

Many critics have compared Crossing the Mangrove to Akira Kurosawa’s film Rashomon (1950), which employs the titular Rashomon effect—multiple retellings of a single incident. What does this effect suggest about the nature of truth in Crossing the Mangrove?

Compare and contrast Mira and Vilma. What are their respective relationships with their parents? Why do they seek Sancher?