Chapter 39.1
- "It is one of the triumphs of the human that he can know a thing and still not believe it." While this quotation is in reference to the collective consciousness of the community, which individual of the story triumphs in a similar way?
- The revelation of Cal's humanity in this and the previous chapter is startling and heart-warming. Steinbeck appears to be requiring a balance in this character, such that he that is most capable of bad is also the most capable of good, a balance that so many of the other characters lack. Cathy, for example, is imbalanced in nearly an equal, opposite manner as Adam, as if the two of them make one whole. Aron is similar, and seems to require a doppelganger, though it seems unlikely to be Cal (true definition of doppelganger, here). Are there other characters, like Cal, who are their own and complete without the balance of another?
- What tremendous reason does Cal have for being glad that he was in jail overnight?
- This moment of sharing between Cal and Adam is along the same lines of an earlier discussion regarding the falling of giants. How does a giant's fall make him more human, approachable, and, in Cal's case for his father, loveable?
- Maybe it's not possible to imagine this moment without being a father; if you're not, project yourself into Adam. Empathize. When Cal goes into the kitchen to make coffe, what is Adam thinking and, more importantly--infinitely more importantly--what is he feeling?
Chapter 39.2
- What about Kate's (Cathy's) hands?
- Who is the father of the twins? The answer, any one of three possible choices, can strengthen, weaken, or disregard (only one) the point of Timshel. I vouch for strengthen.
- Cal, as heroic and brave as his father--while just as cowardly and afraid--says it: "I don't think the light hurts your eyes. I think you're afraid."
- What is her fear, now Cal has seen and known her?
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