Victory City

In a novel spanning many centuries, Pampa faces many antagonists. What motivations and beliefs do these antagonists share, and what thematic tensions do their conflicts with Pampa expose?

What motivates Pampa to want to build a more equal world? What steps does she take to bring this equality about?

If history is cyclical (as evidenced by the continual reappearance of Domingo Nunes), how does Pampa force it to progress in a linear or teleological fashion toward the goal of multiculturalism and gender equality? What does the novel suggest about the relationship between these two views of history?

Victory City is presented as a summary of a translation of an old poem. How does the presence of the contemporary editor/translator inform your reading of Pampa’s story?

In what ways does Victory City employ magical realism? How does magic work as a source of power in the novel, and what burdens does it impose on those who wield it?

If the pink monkeys are a symbol of the eventual colonization of India by Europeans, what is the significance of that symbol? What does the battle in the forest imply, or foreshadow, about the eventual arrival of the British Empire?

Taking into account the many rulers of Bisnaga, which character traits have the most negative impact on the city’s well-being? How does power serve to foster these harmful traits?

The funeral pyres described in Victory City are just one manifestation of a motif of fire as a force of destruction and transformation. What other instances of this motif exist in the novel, and how do they work together to convey meaning?