The Grapes of Wrath book club questions

The reading plan

Meeting 1: Part 1 to Chapter 7

1. What can joking about death offer soldiers that a serious conversation might not?
2. Why might soldiers step outside to watch a bombardment rather than remain sheltered?
3. How might learning about the gunners' preparations change the four friends' feelings about the advance?
4. How might uncertain battle news affect the Stonewalls as they receive orders to enter the firing line?
5. What does the companions' separation suggest about how much friends can protect one another under fire?

Meeting 2: Chapters 8 to 11

6. How does Larry's absence complicate Kentucky's reunion with Pug?
7. What might crossing deadly open ground demand of Kentucky beyond physical courage?
8. What might lead a separated soldier like Larry to take command rather than wait for direction?
9. How does learning about Larry's actions change your view of his earlier absence?
10. How might the destruction of their cover change what the defenders consider a reasonable risk?

Meeting 3: Chapters 12 to 16

11. How should Pug's pursuit of a helmet be judged when other soldiers mistake it for an advance?
12. What does the mistaken advance suggest about how soldiers decide whose actions to follow?
13. How does the armored advance change your understanding of the assaults that failed before it?
14. How might a comic decoration sit alongside rescue work in the same chapter?
15. Why might a painful evacuation prompt thoughts of divine punishment, and what other explanations could the soldiers find?

Themes to talk about

Tips for the host

1. Open each meeting with one question everyone can answer, then go deeper.
2. Anyone who fell behind can catch up with the 15-minute summary.