59 pages • 1 hour read
Patrick D. SmithA Land Remembered
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1984A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Essay Topics
At the beginning of the novel, Toby tells Sol that he cannot “capture the fog” (6). What does Toby mean by this? Taking into account the conclusion of the novel, what does “the fog” represent for the two men?
What are Tobias’s motivations for raising his family and trying to build a business amid such a forbidding landscape? What is it about the challenges posed by the Florida wilderness that attracts Tobias?
Describe how Tobias’s philosophy on land ownership differs from that of his son, Zech. How does Zech’s perspective on the matter evolve over the course of the novel?
The sight of animals gathering peacefully to share water from the pond during a devastating drought has a profound impact on Zech. How does the animals’ behavior on the prairie differ from that of various humans the MacIveys encounter over the course of the novel?
In what ways are Glenda and Tawanda different from one another? How do those differences represent a schism in Zech’s personality and the competing desires that arise from it?
What are your thoughts on Zech’s attempts to rationalize his affair with Tawanda? Is it possible to justify living a double life as Zech does? Is it fair for Zech to deceive Glenda simply because she deceived him about her pregnancy?
How does Sol’s kookaben scheme represent his personality both literally and symbolically? How is Sol himself like the baby buzzards he sells to unsuspecting tourists?
Why is Sol so outraged by Donovan’s expansion of the orange groves on his old family homestead? How does this outrage relate to Toby’s anger over Sol’s destruction of the natural wilderness around Big Cypress Swamp?
In Chapter 44, Sol attacks the people honoring him as Citizen of the Year, saying, “The catchword with me is stupidity. With you it’s greed” (401). Do you agree with Sol? Can his sins really be chalked up to mere stupidity? Or does Sol delude himself when he differentiates himself from other developers who destroyed Florida’s wilderness?
With each generation of MacIveys, how does the family’s adversarial relationship with nature evolve? Where does one draw the lines between surviving nature, taming it, and ultimately conquering or destroying it?
