Bag of Bones

How do the settings of Sara Laughs, Dark Score Lake, and TR-90 play into the cultural tradition of the New England Gothic? What is the wider significance of each setting in the text?

Discuss the politics of the novel by drawing parallels between the racist treatment of Sara Tidwell and the classist treatment of Mattie Devore. What does the novel suggest about the relationship between these social issues and the problem of power dynamics?

Analyze the symbolism behind the Green Lady. How is the Green Lady depicted? What is her wider significance in the text?

Mike offers many reflections on his career as a commercial writer, yet elements of commercial fiction often appear in his real-life experiences. How do the tropes of commercial fiction genres, like crime thrillers, manifest in Mike’s “real” life? How do they explore the tensions between truth and fiction?

Analyze the novel’s exploration of grief. How does Bag of Bones examine the nature of grief and the complications of healing? How are Mattie and Mike different or similar in their experiences of bereavement and grief?

Discuss the commentary King provides on the American justice system in this novel. How does Mattie’s experiences with her custody case and/or Sara’s murder function as a critique of justice and injustice in American society?

Examine the symbolic relationship between dreams and creativity as depicted in this novel. How does the novel explore the life and worth of art? Conversely, in what ways does it suggest the problems or limitations of art?