Dead Med

Compare Dead Meds to other campus novels, such as Donna Tartt’s The Secret History or M.L. Rio’s If We Were Villains. What does each text suggest about academic elitism and its consequences?

To what extent is Mason Howard’s psychotic break a product of Sasha Zaleski’s malicious drugging versus the internal pressures of his own ambition?

How does the anatomy lab function dually as both a space for scientific objectivity and a stage for profound psychological and moral collapse, reflecting the central conflicts within the students themselves?

How do the contrasting motivations, transformations, and moral reckonings of Sasha and Rachel offer different perspectives on Ambition as a Catalyst for Moral Decay?

Dead Med opens with a prologue that reveals the story’s violent climax and concludes with an epilogue set seven years later. Analyze the effects of this structural choice on the reader’s experience of the story.

The guide identifies Abe as a moral compass struggling to stay true. Evaluate the key decisions Abe makes following the shooting of Hooper, arguing whether his actions are justifiable attempts at self-preservation or a definitive abandonment of his moral principles.

The motif of drugs and pills is central to the corruption at DeWitt Medical School. Analyze how this motif expands on the novel’s central themes.

Rachel’s relationship with Dr. Matt Conlon begins as a cynical transaction but evolves into genuine love. How does this character arc complicate the novel’s exploration of secrets and deception? Argue whether their affair ultimately serves as an exception to the rule that secrets are inherently destructive or as a tragic confirmation of it.