Does this difference in opinion foreshadow future events? How does it relate to their conflicting opinions of what to do with Lucy?ĩ. His job was just to take care of it.” (page 62) Discuss the difference in Tom’s point of view compared to Isabel’s. When Isabel brings Tom the map of Janus, complete with new names for all the locations on the island, Tom has an interesting reaction: “Janus did not belong to him: he belonged to it, like he’d heard the natives thought of the land. How do these opposing forces shape your reading?Ĩ. Discuss the theme of opposites in The Light Between Oceans-darkness and light safety and danger land and water truth and lies. Janus Rock is named for Janus, the Roman God of doorways, “always looking both ways, torn between two ways of seeing things.” (page 65) How does this knowledge impact your reading of The Light Between Oceans? Who is “torn between two ways of seeing things”?ħ. The narrator reflects that he’s not “one of the men whose legs trailed by a hank of sinews, or whose guts cascaded from their casing like slithering eels….But he’s scarred all the same, having to live in the same skin as the man who did the things that needed to be done back then.” (page 10) How do you think Tom’s experiences as a soldier impact his decisions throughout the novel? What other outside elements, like the war, influences the narrative?Ħ. Tom is haunted by what he witnessed-and what he did-during his enlistment in World War I.
Sometimes it’s good to leave the past in the past.”(pages 44-45) Do you think it is possible to leave the past in the past? What do you think of Tom’s opinion that it’s a “pity” that we’re a product of our family’s past? What does this tell you about his character? Discuss the impact of family history on Tom, Isabel, Hannah, and Frank.ĥ. When Isabel tries to get Tom to open up about his family, he responds: “I’ll tell you if you really want. Why do you think each of them is drawn to live on Janus Rock? Do you think, in the moments when we are unobserved, we are different people?Ĥ. On the Offshore Lights you can live any story you want to tell yourself, and no one will say you’re wrong: not the seagulls, not the prisms, not the wind.” (page 110) Discuss the impact of living in seclusion on both Tom and Isabel. The island knows no other human voices, no other footprints. “The isolation spins its mysterious cocoon, focusing the mind on one place, one time, one rhythm-the turning of the light. Is there a particular passage or scene that stood out to you? What role does the natural world play in Tom and Isabel’s life?ģ.
The novel is rich with detailed descriptions of the ocean, the sky, and the wild landscape of Janus Rock. Why do you think the author selected this title? What do you visualize when you hear or read The Light Between Oceans?Ģ. Discuss the novel’s title, The Light Between Oceans.
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