The Four Winds

How does Elsa’s childhood illness inform her 25-year-old self? Her parents use that illness as an excuse to keep her sheltered and isolated. What effect does that isolation have on her initial encounters with Rafe?

Dalhart is a devout community. Describe the role of religion in the social and spiritual fabric of the town. How does religion benefit the citizens, and how does it contribute to an inequitable social hierarchy?

Poverty—and family bonds—tie the characters to a certain fate. Rafe claims that a single bad choice condemns him to life as a farmer. Discuss the tension between America, the land of endless opportunity, and the reality of America during the Great Depression.

Elsa’s character arc is a series of trials, each of which she feels ill-equipped for. What are some of those trials, and how does she confront them? How do they influence the woman she becomes?

Loreda exhibits surprising courage on the journey west—saving her mother from a murderous drifter, defying her teacher’s gender-restrictive classroom activities, and robbing the company store to pay for their trip back to Texas. Was this courage innate or did her experience in the Dust Bowl contribute to it? Explain.

In her Author’s Note, Hannah writes, “As we know, there are lessons to be learned from history.” What are some of those lessons? Are they relevant today, or do current events require a contemporary perspective?

When Jack confronts Welty at the growers’ town meeting, he accuses Welty of being afraid of the workers. Why, as Jack argues, “should [he] be scared?” (360). How does unionization threaten capitalism both economically and philosophically?

Why does Elsa insist that Loreda and Anthony get an education? Is it a realistic goal given their circumstances? Given that Loreda walks out of school on a regular basis, why does she leave for college at the end? Is it for her mother or for herself?