The People in the Trees

Academic narcissism plays a major role in The People in the Trees. How does academic narcissism impact Norton’s decision-making on U’ivu?

Norton spends most of the novel trying to eradicate the loneliness in his life, but he cannot succeed, even after adopting 43 children. Why does loneliness impact Norton so deeply even after the adoption of his children?

The opa’ivu’eke possess the key to immortality and are highly sought after by pharmacological companies, even though the technology to understand them fully doesn’t exist. Why do these companies hunt them to extinction even though no progress is made?

In the novel, there is a race by companies to capture opa’ivu’ekes to obtain immortality, and yet in the village on Ivu’ivu, where the turtles are readily available, no one oversteps to eat one before the appropriate time. How does this develop the theme of The Systematic Exploitation of Indigenous People?

Norton dehumanizes his children throughout the latter parts of the novel whenever he is discontent with his own life. How does this define his relationship with them, and how does it impact the children?

One of the biggest moral questions of the novel is whether Norton is responsible for the destruction of U’ivu. Is it his fault for publishing his findings or is it the fault of the various companies who rip the islands apart? Use examples from the text to prove your point.

Norton and Kubodera are both narrators in The People in the Trees and are at times unreliable. Discuss the ways in which they are unreliable narrators and what questions they may leave a reader with after finishing the novel.

Compare and contrast the ways in which the dreamers are discussed and treated in relation to the lab mice and other test subject animals. How does this illuminate the scientific community’s views of Indigenous people?