The Little Friend

How does the author’s use of an omniscient, third-person narrator help develop the novel’s ideas? How would the story change if told through a different point of view?

Compare and contrast how Harriet (the protagonist) and Danny (the alleged villain or antagonist) both experience Maturation as Loss.

How does Harriet’s gender impact her maturation process and her experience of loss? Her living family members are all women; does she share characteristics and experiences with them? How does she differ from Hely and the book’s male characters?

How do shifts in chronology illustrate the theme of Maturation as Loss? Cite examples from the text in which the chronology changes.

Compare and contrast what Tribulation was actually like (according to the narrator) to the stories the Cleves tell about Tribulation. How does this illustrate The Dangers of Revisionist History?

How do the recurring motifs of coincidences and lapses in memory support the novel’s ideas about the nature of mystery?

What is the greatest “loss” that Harriet experiences over the course of the novel? Why? Support your answer with textual evidence.

How does the family’s revision of their own personal history mirror their revision of more generalized American history? Why is this dangerous?