Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead

Encourage readers to connect the book’s themes and characters with their personal experiences.

1. Reflect on Janina’s strong beliefs on morality, justice, and the treatment of animals and how this makes her an outsider in her community. Have your beliefs ever isolated you from others?

2. Discuss Janina’s belief in astrology. Do you think there is value in looking for patterns of meaning or explanations for human behavior in the cosmos?

3. The book posits that there is a fine line between eccentricity and mental illness. Have you ever encountered someone whose behavior is dismissed as odd or even unhealthy and is later discovered to be insightful? 

4. Trace the novel’s exploration of the relationship between humans and animals. How did this make you reflect on your views of animal welfare and environmental conservation?

Examine the book’s relevance to societal issues, historical events, or cultural themes.

1. Analyze the novel as a critique of societal attitudes toward older women. How do you see this bias playing out in your own society?

2. How does the novel challenge cultural and societal traditions around hunting? Does it suggest that hunting is universally immoral, and if so, does this sufficiently account for the centrality of hunting to many cultures worldwide?

3. Trace elements of Polish culture and history, such as the tension between tradition, progress, and religion, that are woven throughout the text. How specific are the novel’s ideas to this cultural context? Where else do you see similar tensions existing?

Dive into the book’s structure, characters, themes, and symbolism.

1. Analyze the connection between Janina and the poet William Blake, known for works such as “The Tyger” and “The Garden of Love.” What similarities do they share in their visionary minds and connection to the “natural world?

2. Discuss how the landscape and weather play a central role in the story.

3. Explore the novel’s critique of institutional authority, including the church and law enforcement. What does the recurring motif of pulpits symbolize?

4. How does the author develop the character of Janina through her relationships with those around her, particularly Oddball, Dizzy, Good News, and Boros?

5. Discuss the novel’s thematic emphasis on the pitfalls of isolation and the necessity of misfits and outsiders in society.

6. Trace how the author selectively uses capitalization. What is the significance of this stylistic choice?