Today is the discussion day for our Read With Us spring book, Good People by Patmeena Sabit.
Kym, Carole, and I are each posting a discussion question or two on our blogs today, and you are welcome to respond in the comments. I would also encourage you to reply to others' comments if you choose. This is a book discussion, after all, so there are no correct answers or right opinions. I'm really looking forward to discussing this book. I raced through this book the first time I read it, and then read it a second time where I discovered many things I had missed or forgotten. I think this discussion will be valuable for me, and I hope for others of you as well.
Good People seems especially well-suited to discussion because it raises questions about truth, family loyalty, reputation, immigration, community judgment, and the limits of perspective. Here is my question: The novel repeatedly asks readers to reconsider their judgments. What do you think are the most important lessons the book offers about understanding other people?
I am so looking forward to this discussion and hearing what everyone has to say because I found this novel to be so compelling. Ultimately I couldn't decide what had happened, and I think the author really wanted there to be that extreme ambiguity. I think her point is that it's so hard to make a judgment about others because there are so many difference between people, especially when you're dealing with people from different cultures and backgrounds. Then there's the fact that even when you think you know someone well, you may not really know what they're capable of when under extreme stress.
ReplyDeleteThis might be the best question of all Bonny! I think this is exactly what makes this book so discussable!! The challenges that arise when you think you understand something/someone but then someone adds in another thing and you find that what you understood was not that! It is a moving target... so it really challenges how open a person you are! This novel really emphasized that there are so many more grey areas that anyone imagined... that "black and white" almost never exists. I liked the ambiguity of the story... the discomfort of not knowing.... it felt very realistic to me. Perhaps more realistic than a linear story told from the "black and white" perspective. (it also reiterated how little anyone actually has to know before forming an opinion... )
ReplyDeleteOh, yeah . . . this is a great question, Bonny! I think we tend to see most things from our own perspective (because how can we not???), but when it comes right down to it . . . we know . . . not much . . . about the inner workings of anyone else. Fascinating! I can't wait to talk about this with everyone tonight!
ReplyDeleteI think it shows how easily people are influenced to pass judgement based on opinions they hear from friends, family, & social media, especially when these opinions support one's feelings about other cultures.
ReplyDeleteThis is the question of the book, I think, even more than the question of crime vs accident. How do we know? And how to we deal with not being able to know? I think Debbie's comment is especially interesting. I think when we are outside a culture, it's hard to maintain nuance. By that I mean, in our own milieu, we understand that some people are "good" -- trustworthy, kind, etc. Others are to be wary of. But it's always hard to know, even then. When people hear I work with refugees, often they jump to the conclusion (often true) that they must be really GRATEFUL to be here. It's often more complicated than that. Grateful yes, but often struggling and homesick. Torn, as in this book, between holding on to the culture they've left and fitting in to ours. I've met a couple (literally two) people in the communities I worked in who went on to commit quite terrible crimes. A few folks I don't really trust. But most people are decent and doing the best they can. Just like the rest of us.
ReplyDeleteSo true, how do you know, whose opinion do you believe. It is so changeable as the book goes on and the opinions are read.
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