Sounder

Sounder is the only named character in the novel. What broader significance can be found in this stylistic choice?

How do the depictions of Sounder shift over the course of the narrative? Identify at least two crucial turning points, and explain your interpretation using details from the novel.

The boy’s mother tells him that their family seems “born to lose.”

What do you think she means by this? Use examples from the text to support your analysis.

What challenges does the boy face as he searches for his father?

What do the boy’s actions suggest about his character and the realities of the society that he lives in?

Choose at least one of the biblical stories featured in the novel—other than that of David and Goliath. What is the story’s symbolic significance to the scene in which it appears?

Describe the boy’s relationship with his family. How does his connection with his father differ from his bonds with his siblings and his mother?

How does meeting the schoolteacher change the boy’s life? Explain in detail and include quotations from the passage in your answer.

Research the historical realities of life as a sharecropper in the 19th century. What details from the family’s daily life most forcefully depict the inequalities that govern their situation?