The following questions are taken from your blog posts…
Titles
Which title is your favourite? And why so many?
What do you think the title “The Hour of the Star” represents?
Authors
Do you think the way Macabéa’s story was told and the perspective we are presented with would be different if the author was a woman?
Do you think Clarice Lispector was influenced by her youth to write Macabéa’s portrayal of innocence? Since the last few years she was alive, she appeared the complete opposite of how Macabéa is in her book?
Do you think that the success of this book has anything to due with the occurrence and timing of Lispector’s death?
What do you think makes an author qualified to write stories on experiences they have not had to live through and what title do you think is most appropriate for this book?
Narrators
Why did the author choose a male writer figure to be the narrator of Macabea’s story?
What did you think about the fictional author Rodrigo S.M and his thoughts on women?
How does the switch between empathy and distance in the narrator’s writing affect how you see Macabea?
Did you feel the unconventional narration style added or detracted from the reading experience of the book?
How does Rodrigo’s introspective nature and his own existential struggles influence his portrayal of Macabéa’s experiences? Do you believe his perspective provides a complete picture of her life, or are there aspects that might be overlooked or misrepresented?
Readers
Was everyone else as confused as me throughout the book?
Did you like the novel? Why?
Did you feel this book was cold or were you emotionally invested?
Macabéa
What do you think would have been different if Macabéa had even a little bit of knowledge about the world and her disease?
Out of Rodrigo S.M. and Macabea, who is more of the epitome of Clarice Lispector; or do these three characters overlap with each other?
Do you think Macabea’s life would have gotten “better” if she had not died?
Do you think Olimpico took advantage of Macabea? Why or why not?
What did you think of Macabéa? Do you think she is as stupid as the narrator makes her out to be? Speaking of the narrator, what was your opinion of him?
How does Macabéa’s ignorance and innocence shape her identity throughout the novel? What do you think contributed to her naivety? Was it her upbringing, society, gender norms, or others? How do you think her personality isolated her from the world around her?
Do you feel like Macabea reflects any challenges/experiences of girlhood?
How would you contrast Olímpico with Macabéa?
Do you think Macabéa was content with her life?
Why do you think Macabea was so “gullible?” For instance, believing everything on the radio, and believing angels exist simply because she believed they did. Another one is believing death is not real simply because she is alive.
How does Macabea’s relationship with her abusive aunt shape her sense of self-worth and identity throughout the novel?
Where you as frustrated by Macabea as I was? If not, did you find anything else about the story to be frustrating?
Would you appreciate life as much as Macabéa did if you lived life in her shoes? Also, how does Rodrigo’s perspective influence how we interpret the novella?
Do we think that Macabea’s love for coca-cola was a hint that she actually wanted to live in riches and be active in consumerism culture?
Do you think Macabea had the power or voice to define herself, or was she defined by the people in her life and overall by her position in society?
Do you think Macabéa was ever in control of her own life or was even a real person that the narrator observed?
To what extent was Macabea truly what the narrator described? What was the impact of perceiving Macabea’s life from this perspective?
Life and Death
In what ways does Macabéa’s tale speak to more general concerns of life and the pursuit of meaning?
What makes Macabea’s life more meaningful?
Did you see Macabea’s death coming?
What is your take on the intended impacts of having Macabea die in the end?
How did you guys feel when she died? Was it sad for you?
What role did Macabéa’s short and abrupt ending have in telling her story? What about the context of her death tells us more about her and of her life within the story being told by Rodrigo?
What is the significance of Macabéa’s sudden moment of clarity and transcendence before her death?
Do you think Macabea’s ending is somewhat positive because as he writes “She was finally free of herself and of us” (76) or do you think it’s negative because the character and a part of the author end up dying “I know because I just died with the girl” (76)?
Other Themes
What do you think ‘explosion’ meant or symbolized?
What do you think the usage of (explosion) meant? Do you think it was an emotional expression or was it used to symbolize something I missed?
Why did the author Clarice Lispector choose to insert “(explosion)” all throughout the book, or for example on page 33? I originally thought it could be literal, and when writing Lispector heard explosions, or it was the narrator that was hearing explosions, but based on the setting of this book I think that that’s not the answer. Could it be when a character is having a revelation or someone’s mindset is changing?
What does the strawberry season mean? What is it symbolic of? Is it symbolic at all?
What have your encounters with fortune tellers been like and what did you think about Madame Carlota’s readings?
Meanings
I still don’t know what the message of this novel is. Is it that nothing matters? Or is it that everything matters?
What was your main takeaway from this novel? What do you think the message on life and death is that the novel wants to send?
Why do you feel Lispector wrote this book? What was she trying to convey?
What do you think the narrator was trying to tell us? Is there a deeper message, or is it just a bunch of disjointed philosophical ideas?
What question do you think this book is about? What is it trying to ask of the reader?
Other
What are your opinions on the novel’s philosophical themes?
Do you think the author was right to worry about the ethical and accurate representation of poverty in his writing? Or do you think that this worry was making a duty toward poor people bigger than it needed to be?
How everyone feels about the ending not necessarily as reader who didn’t receive a gratifying conclusion, but as a person who by reading this novel bared witness to such bitter injustice that is never amended?
How do you think Lispector felt writing from the perspective of a writer who could never be exact on what he wanted to say?
My question is what are your thoughts on the line “sadness was a luxury”? Do you think this is true?
despite the fact that this was a short book, did you still find yourself able to get into the plot and the characters, and if so, in what ways?
How do you think Lispector felt writing from the perspective of a writer who could never be exact on what he wanted to say?