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Gitel’s Freedom

BOOK CLUB DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
  1. Rayzel was happy in Borisov. She didn’t want to follow her husband Yankel to America. Should she have stayed in Borisov with the children? What might have happened to her and her family if she had decided to stay in Borisov?
  2. Gitel and Rayzel had an antagonistic relationship for most of the time Gitel was growing up. Is there something either or both of them could have done to fix their relationship?
  3. What would have happened if Gitel had decided to defy her parents and gone to one of several teachers’ colleges that existed at the time in Chicago or to the University of Indiana at Bloomington? What would have been the obstacles? Could she have overcome them?
  4. Gitel knew before she married Shmuel about his being malnourished as a baby, and about his having meningitis after high school. Should she have taken those clues about his health more seriously? Should they have given her pause about marrying Shmuel?
  5. What do you think about Gitel’s feelings about intimate relations in her marriage?
  6. Even before Shmuel and Gitel were married, Gitel was worried about the economy and didn’t think it was a good time to start a business. After they had the pharmacy, she continued to worry and didn’t want to leave their working capital in the bank. But Shmuel always dismissed her concerns. Is there anything more that Gitel could have done to convince Shmuel to take actions that could have prevented their loss of the business?
  7. Gitel’s objections to keeping kosher and going to the mikveh lead Shmuel to gradually let go of the religious observance that had been so important to him. His work schedules also were not conducive to observance. Shmuel wondered if his lack of observance could have contributed to his persistent bad luck. What do you think about that?
  8. After Shmuel’s accident at the downtown Pharmall, Gitel moved the family from Lawndale to Hyde Park. Should she have done that without consulting Shmuel, especially since she had reason to believe he did not want to change neighborhoods?
  9. What do you think about the relationship between Gitel and Sophie? Were they just friends? Or was there something more to that relationship?
  10. Gitel has a particular idea about freedom. Would you be happy with that type of freedom?
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A Wife in Bangkok

BOOK CLUB DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
  1. Do you think Crystal made the right choice in deciding to follow Brian to Bangkok? What would her life have been if she had stayed with the children in Pico City?  What would Brian have done in Bangkok?  Would he have taken Judy as a “minor wife”?
  2. Why was Brian able to overcome his upbringing and religion so readily as he continued to see Judy and to lie to Crystal?
  3. Why couldn’t Crystal figure out how to make a life in Bangkok? Was the problem intrinsic to her?  Or was she the victim of circumstances?
  4. If Crystal and Brian had moved to Bangkok today rather than in 1975, would Crystal have been so lonely?
  5. Crystal continued to teach Nit and push her to learn, despite repeated warnings that she shouldn’t get involved with a servant. Was she right to try to help Nit?  Did her American view of equality blind her to the problem?  Was she continuing for her own sake or Nit’s?
  6. Why was Brian so perceptive with respect to his work, but so unperceptive about Crystal’s situation?
  7. Were Crystal and Brian good parents? Are there things they should have done to support their children that they didn’t do?
  8. What insights did Crystal gain during therapy?
  9. Do you think Crystal is happy at the end of the book? Or did she just find ways to be busy?
  10. Are Brian and Crystal really in love with each other at the end of the book, or are one or both of them just accepting and renewing a comfortable and convenient relationship?
  11. What do you think a good relationship within a marriage should be?