The following questions are taken from your blog posts…
On Motherhood:
Does having a child make you a mother, or is motherhood something else entirely?
Can motherhood and self-identity coexist in this novel?
Would you consider her a good mother? A good person? Can they be mutually exclusive?
On Freedom:
Can freedom ever exist without some kind of sacrifice? Do you think freedom is worth the sacrifices?
Do you think Constances pursuit of freedom is empowering, especially in relation to her role as a mother? can her rejection of social norms also be justified?
Do you think Constance is actually finding freedom in her choices, or is she just trying to cope with what she has lost?
If the narrator leaves her old life in search of freedom, why does she still keep people at an emotional distance in her new one? Is this freedom, or just another form of control?
Is the narrator actually becoming her true self, or is she just destroying her life and calling it freedom?
On the Title:
Considering the text was originally written in French, the fact that it started out with an English title felt odd. What was the purpose of that? Depending on the reasoning, should the English translation of the text have the title in a different langauge such as French?
Why do you think Debré gave this French novel an English title?
On Happiness:
Does this look like happiness to you?
Do you think that she’s happy with the decisions she’s made or even happy with her life in general?
Other
Why would the protagonist (or anyone) “prefer the truth of war over the hypocrisy of peace”? What do we gain from conflicts such as these?
Do you think that Constance could have loved her child as she focused on herself?
What do you think of her choices to disregard societal approval, granted she understood the risks associated with her decisions?
Is Constance avoidant by nature or did this whole situation (Laurent and Paul) make her this way? Does the book give you enough to decide?
Why was it not enough that she loved Paul? Why was it not enough that she tried over and over again to regain her son? Why was it so simple for him to villainize her?
What does the author mean by “a rich crime”? Is it the idea that only people who have it all consider partaking in this crime? Especially since they are the ones that have nothing to lose?
Is the problem really her behavior, or the fact that she refuses to follow the roles that society has already decided for her?
What did you find the most frustrating aspect of this book?
What did you think about the ending? Did it feel satisfying to you?
how we’re supposed to interpret her emotional state: is she numb, or is she deliberately refusing to perform emotion for the reader?
Maybe I felt uncomfortable because we usually expect a bit more of someone to be held back in public? It probably would have felt safer, but in the end I’m glad to have read so much of her. What do you think?
What did you feel like you learned from Love Me Tender?
Do you think the narrator is actually slowing down or speeding up after this pause?
What was your initial impression of the narrator? Did you think that Laurent’s accusations were baseless from the get-go, or did you have some suspicions?
