38 pages • 1 hour read
Goodbye To Berlin
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Essay Topics
Goodbye to Berlin takes place during the rise of Hitler and the Nazi Party in Germany, but Isherwood relegates most of these historical details to the background of the novel. Why do you think Isherwood chose to focus the action of the novel on his friendships, instead?
Sally Bowles describes herself as an ideal woman. In what ways is the real Sally Bowles different from the idealized version she presents to others?
The Nowaks and the Landauers are very different families in terms of wealth and demeanor. In what ways are they similar?
Throughout the novel, Isherwood’s sexual identity is never made explicit. What stylistic advantages are there to writing the narrator this way?
How are Sally Bowles and Natalia Landauer foils of one another?
How would Goodbye to Berlin change as a novel if its story was arranged chronologically, rather than in episodes focusing one or two specific characters?
Why do you think “On Ruegen Island (Summer 1931)” is the only chapter in the novel to take place outside of Berlin? What is its significance?
In what ways has Berlin changed from the beginning of the novel to the end of the novel?
How has Isherwood’s character changed from the beginning of the novel to the end of the novel?
In what ways does the knowledge that Goodbye to Berlin is a semi-autobiographical novel color your reading of it?
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