Edwardsville Public Library discussion

We will begin reading and discussing this book January 3rd. Feel free to share your thoughts/questions about any aspect of the book. Jacob D. will be moderating this discussion.

What are some of the first things that struck you about Papa Pilgrim? Early in the book, I took to his reaction during the conversation in which Pilgrim learns that Neil Darish is gay. We might expect Pilgrim to shun the innkeeper based on his other staunch beliefs, so it's surprising to see him not pass judgement.

Also early on, it's interesting to see Papa Pilgrim's little idiosyncrasies, like his avoidance of the one-dollar bill because of its satanic pyramids. Did any other idiosyncrasies or quirks jump out anyone when we first meet Papa Pilgrim?

I can't think of any quirks, but I do remember thinking that he seemed surprisingly normal at the beginning of the book. It wasn't until he started bulldozing the forest around his property and refusing to talk to the park service that I started thinking things were not going to go well.

One would think Papa Pilgrim's dealings with the national parks service would be like any wild frontiersman fighting for his freedom against a governing authority. As the book goes on, it sounds like he'd antagonize anyone that came nosing around his house. He was only friendly to his neighbors so long as they were neighbors that stayed down in McCarthy, not ones that saw the way he treated his family.

A few times in the book, the Pilgrim/Hale family is described as a cult of personality. In every other personality cult, like the Branch Davidians, followers choose to come stay with the leader. The Hale children are born into this life and violently forced to stay. It seems like the Hale kids have an awakening of sorts once Mr. Buckingham brings up accusations about Papa Pilgrim's relationship with Elishaba, but this didn't happen until she was 29 years old!

Another interesting thing about the family's time around the Buckinghams is the Hale children's realization that Papa was misinterpreting the Bible and twisting the words so they work in his favor. And then there's twists that he applies to the truth of his own family's history, like his fictitious burial of their miscarried child. He really sounds like a conman in the movies that takes up religion and righteousness as a guise to con innocent, gullible people.