We Are Okay

The setting and the contrasts between Marin’s life in California and her life in New York are very important. What do the differences in these settings symbolize in the narrative?

Instead of a linear timeline, the novel moves back and forth between the present and the past. How does this affect the narrative? How does it affect the reader’s experience?

Marin’s perspective evolves throughout the course of the book. How do you see this perspective changing, and what affect does it have on Marin’s grief and healing?

The novel emphasizes Marin’s early love for literature and analysis. Later in the novel, this activity brings her pain. How does Marin’s loss change the way she interacts with literature? How did she use books in the past? How does she experience them now? What impact do books have on the way we perceive the world?

There is a significant focus on things in the book, from Ana’s use of discarded items in her art to Marin’s empty-handed flight to New York, where her dorm remains barren of any personal items. What significance do things have in the construction of the self? How do the characters in the book use possessions to express themselves? Are those possessions important to the expression of self?

Though Marin spends much of the novel far from “okay” and separate from a sense of “we,” the novel is titled We Are Okay. What does the title mean in the context of the story? What does “okay” mean for Marin? How does “okay” change over the course of the novel?

The ocean is a significant element in the text. In what ways is its influence present in the text? What may a more symbolic reading of its presence suggest?

The novel alternates between a California summer and a New York winter. The difference has physical and symbolic weight in the text. How does LaCour use the weather to influence the character and plot development? Does the weather influence the reader’s experience of the story?