April Witch

1. How does Desiree, an invalid with no ability to move or speak, function as the conjurer of this story? Are the events actually happening, or is the narrative of Christina, Margareta, and Birgitta some kind of extended dream or death sequence? In what capacity does Hubertsson serve as the impetus of the narrative as he continues revealing facts about Desiree's past and "forcing another piece of the puzzle" on her? 2. At the novel's beginning, Desiree notes that the smallest elements of matter are simultaneously waves and particles. How does the subject of duality continue to present itself throughout the rest of April Witch, especially in relation to the characters, none of whom seem to be entirely victims or villains? How do Birgitta's first words-"Gitta not bad!"-raise a theme of ambivalent morality? 3. Early in the text, Desiree says that while she doesn't know what form meaning takes, she knows that it exists. Compare this need for belief to Margareta's Christmas desire to go to Midnight Mass and her conviction that God is gravity. Where else do the novel's characters search for meaning? 4. Sex is an integral part of the narrative. Christina thinks that virginity at an older age makes her "defective" and breaks her own hymen; Margareta has an affair with a teacher and then goes on to sleep with strangers; Birgitta is "chosen" by Hound Dog and works the streets of Salt Flats. What is the meaning of sex and sexuality for these three characters? 5. Discuss the significance of the cherry tree photo. How do the girls' locations in the tree and the incorrectly recorded colors of their dresses seem to set them in fixed positions in relationship to one another? How have these positions changed by the book's end? 6. How do the rape and slow death of Tiger-Maria serve as a metaphor for the manner in which the disabled are treated in the Swedish health care system? Desiree eventually concludes that "none of my sisters stole the life that was meant for me. I have lived the life that was meant for me." With so many members of the medical profession-like Redelius and Zimmerman-undervaluing her existence, how does Desiree define life? 7. Memory plays a key role in the novel. At one point, Margareta notes that "you weren't supposed to talk about the specters. They'd go away if you just ignored them. They'd be all gone by the time the future arrived." How are the girls chased by the specters of their pasts? Is Margareta less haunted because she never knew her mother? How does Christina's creation of the Post-Industrial Paradise and the impression it gives "as if the twentieth century never happened" fulfill a need to create a new heritage and bury her past? 8. At one point, Desiree declares that Ella "should've realized she had obligations to fulfill, she should have been able to recall that I was her child and that I was also a human being, underneath all of my disabilities." Is Ella to blame for Desiree's treatment? Discuss any possible irony concerning the fact that Desiree's name means "the desired one." 9. After arriving at Aunt Ella's, Birgitta realizes "that there was something sacred about food in this house." How does eating take on a ritualistic nature for Ella? How is this connected to her past? Discuss Christina's need to re-create the entire traditional Christmas meal when Ella is in the hospital. 10. As a child, Birgitta believed that she had a "sweet tooth sugar mouse" living inside her. Discuss the significance of