The Four Seasons
Page 38
If you created a time capsule today, what would you put in it?
Jillian’s pregnancy was a taboo subject in the Season family. No one was allowed to openly discuss it. Yet after Merry’s death it was revealed that each sister, even Merry, knew all along. Later, the past relationship between Jillian and Dennis bubbled under the surface but was never acknowledged. Discuss how and why families often ignore the big pink elephant in the middle of the room.
The search for Spring was a metaphor for the women’s search for the hopes and dreams of the young girls they once were. Discuss whether you believe the young, androgynous, fearless girl you once were still lives within you. How did the four Season sisters help each other rediscover their authentic identities?
Each of the Season daughters received a nickname to correspond with their unusual last name. What clues do the names offer regarding the characters’ personalities? Discuss the impact names and/or nicknames have on our lives. Do you feel names can influence a child’s later interests or career? For example, a dentist named Dr. Sweet.
On chapter 1, an elderly woman referred to Einstein’s theory of relativity, noting how “different observers can describe the same event differently.” Later in the novel, on chapter 25, Jillian brings up the wise old woman’s words to her sisters and adds, “We each have our own version of what happened in the pool that day. And even though they are different, each one is valid.” Discuss the evolution of the sisters’ confrontation with, and acceptance of, Merry’s accident in the pool. Are there incidents in your own family history that elicit conflicting narratives from sisters, brothers, aunts and uncles?
ISBN: 978-1-4592-4832-8
THE FOUR SEASONS
Copyright © 2001 by Mary Alice Kruesi.
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