Lit Collective: An Online Reading Retreat discussion

Discussion questions to guide you in your reading...for taking notes and for guiding our discussions, etc.

1. Do you like Emmett Conn? Does knowing what he did during the war change your opinion of him? Is it possible to be a good person in spite of having done evil things?

2. Do you think it is possible to completely block out some memories or to recover others that have been “lost”?

3. Do our memories of the past change as we get older?

4. The conflict between the Turks and the Armenians involved religion, yet God and religion are largely absent from the book. Why do you think that is? Do you think religious differences are sometimes used for political purposes?

5. What kind of transformation does Ahmet undergo during the march? If he hadn’t fallen in love with Araxie, do you think he would have had any change of heart about what he was doing?

6. Emmett’s story is in part an immigrant’s tale. What about America works as he thought it would? What doesn’t?

7. Why do you think the author chose to have Emmett committed to a mental institution? What comment do you think the author is trying to make here?

8. Why do you think Emmett reminds Violet of the child she gave up for adoption?

9. In the dream, Ahmet postulates that the Armenians more or less deserved their fate because of their actions. Yet how does he react as Emmett Conn when Recep’s nephew says essentially the same thing?

10. What do our dreams tell us about ourselves? When Emmett finds himself strangling the home health aide Ethan, does that speak to his past or to something else?

11. At the end of the book, Araxie’s granddaughter discloses that Araxie was, in fact, not Armenian. What does this say about the Turkish-Armenian conflict? What do you think the author was trying to say with this plot twist?

12. Why is Emmett so fixated on Wilfred? Is he trying to “live his life over,” as Violet claims? What else might he see in Wilfred?

13. When Ahmet prays at a mosque in Aleppo, a Christian church’s spire comes into view and he says he “has bowed before both of these things all his life.” Yet when he sees Araxie for the last time, the difference in their religions stands as an obstacle between them. Is this resolved?

14. When Emmitt emigrates to the U.S., why do you think he leaves Islam behind but refuses to join his wife’s church?

15. Do you think the author is making any commentary on how we treat the elderly in our society?

16. What do you think is Emmett’s view of Turks and Armenians by the end of the book?

(questions obtained from readinggroupguides.com)

Hello everyone! Maybe I'll get this started :-) I'll start by answering the first discussion question: yes, I really liked Emmett. Knowing he had done evil things was in the back of my mind the entire time I was reading, but what made me like him was the fact that he wasn't inherently evil. I think that's the big difference; there are evil people who do evil things and there are good people who do evil things for whatever reason. Also, everything he did to save Araxie was sort of an atonement. I'm not saying that his kindness toward her made up for everything he did, but we got to see another side of Emmett when he was around her.

Hi everyone! Two of us had a great chat on Wednesday evening about this book, but didn't have a chance to finish all the questions so I offered up to post my answers on here. I'm hoping to read responses to these questions from others!

A1. I neither like nor dislike Emmett Conn although he was intriguing because of his past. I believe that he had to do what he needed, in order to survive the war. I think it is possible for a person to forgive themselves for evil things they’ve done in their past and be able to move forward with life.

A2. Absolutely. I also believe that going through traumatizing events also compounds this memory loss or even gain, like in the case of Emmett Conn.

A3. I think as we get older, our memories of the past do one of two things. They become sharper and we remember more details or they become less clear, and our minds focus on the more general aspect of the memories. Either way, memories change as we age.

A4. I think the author didn’t want the focus of the book to be on the religious aspect of the war, rather focus on the more realistic atrocities which happen in wars regardless of what is being fought over. I do think religious differences can be used for political purposes and there have been wars started all in the name of religion.

A5. Ahmet goes from being a stoic soldier just doing his job and trying to move up in military ranking to letting himself just be a man like any other, without letting his job define him. He is capable of experiencing emotions and falling in love with Araxie and that changed the way he looked at life. Love is the most powerful thing in the world, which I think made Ahmet have a change of heart about the evil he was a part of.

A6. The freedom to choose how to live your life, freedom of expression and religion is something that Emmett expected and received. I think the part he doesn’t expect is how the culture and people in America are so different from his country. Neighbors don’t get to know each other, families hardly spend time together, and the list goes on. Assimilation is readily available and yet the comfort of the familiar is easier to fall back on.

A7. Maybe he was trying to show the fine line between someone who remembers their past with confusion and someone who is actually mentally unstable. There is a fine line between delusion and reality, and I believe that’s what the author is trying to show.

A8. It seems that Emmett doesn’t want Violet to have any regrets, like the ones he had after everything he lived through during the war.

A9. He reacts by essentially defending the Armenians, I think because of his love for Araxie.

A10. I believe our dreams are simply an extension of our mind and our world view, based on both past and present experiences. I believe Emmett was dealing with his past, in the moment where he was strangling the health aide.

A11. When there is a conflict on such a large scale like this, lines are blurred and black & white suddenly becomes gray. People find themselves in situations where they may have to lie, cheat or steal. That is part of war. I think the author was trying to show that we aren’t always who we think we are and that life experiences affect everyone differently.

A12. Emmett wants to show Wilfred the importance of making choices in life. He is also trying to redeem the choices he made when he was Wilfred’s age, which is why he is so obsessed with making sure that Wilfred doesn’t make the same mistakes.

A13. I don’t think it ever is resolved. It seems like he doesn’t want religion to even be a part of their lives, because his feels that their love can be greater than any religious differences.

A14. I don’t think he truly wants to let go of his past, his heritage and the very things that define who he is. It’s almost as if he wants to hang on to every bit that he can, even if he’s no longer living the same life as he was back in his country.

A15. It seems that he is, considering the way he describes the assisted living facilities. Our society doesn’t seem to put a lot of emphasis or spend many resources on taking care of the elderly in a graceful manner. Many times, state run facilities are in terrible shape and sometimes there’s even elderly abuse happening. Sad, but true.

A16. I think he realizes that we as humans are not any different than each other, even a Turk or Armenian. I got the sense that Emmett even may have regretted his past choices.