| |
Seeking Grace in Beulah Land by Lu Clifton
1. Discuss the double meaning of the title. What does the term Beulah Land mean to someone in the Bible Belt? What did it mean to Pa? How does this relate to Mack’s view of the Panhandle? To his father’s reference to the region as “heaven on Earth”? The word grace can also mean absolution. How does this alternate translation relate to the people in the novel?
2. At the beginning of the novel, Ruby’s obsession with genetics makes her weak and needy, but she rises up to take control of finding Beulah Land. Nonny is seen as strongly independent in the beginning, yet crumbles after she becomes obsessed with Grace.. And Mack’s memories of military duty are an obsession that locks him in the past. Discuss Nonny’s view that “obsessions can make a person do dumb-ass things.” Discuss the need to face the dark night of the soul before consolation can be found.
3. Discuss the strong family ties in the novel. Pa once stole his sister from the asylum in Vinita and brought her back home. Ruby wanted to do the same for Pa, taking him out of the nursing home. Cousin Bessie kept the secret of the fateful day Grace disappeared hidden for years because “family’s family.” How has the sense of family changed now that the extended family has all but disappeared in this country? What has been lost . . . or gained?
4. Nonny defines deconstruction as “picking apart words and the meaning behind those words to get at the truth of things long dead.” When she tries to explain what the term means to Mack, he interprets it in terms of what he knows, saying, “I’m in construction . . . Not salvage.” Discuss the theme of deconstruction and salvage in light of the missing Grace. In terms of the story as a whole? Is the entire novel a story of deconstruction? Of salvage? Discuss.
5. The retired philosophy teacher Chester asks Mack as one point if he had given any thought to laying down his sword and shield. What did he mean by this? What did he mean when he talked to Nonny about invisible tattoos on Mack that accumulated under the skin, “permanently separating the person from others.” Do all soldiers who’ve experienced war return with invisible scars that separate them from the rest of society? Other characters also bear invisible scars. They apply balms to ease the pain caused by external scars, but not the invisible. Discuss the difference between physical and emotional wounds and the difficulty healing those not visible.
6. The construction boss Walker challenges Mack’s need to build a custom home for his mother and aunt, saying, “Why go for the best money can buy when good enough’ll do?” Does his rationale make sense? Does the story prove Walker or Mack to be correct? Should adult children follow the desires of their parents, even if it isn’t the safest solution?
7. The novel opens with a description of the Staked Plains, described by Francisco Coronado as a place “with no more land marks than if we had been swallowed up by the sea ... there was not a stone, nor bit of rising ground, nor a tree, nor a shrub, nor anything to go by." [Wikipedia] Why do you think the author chose to begin the novel with this reference? What characters in the book have lost their landmarks? What stakes did the main characters find that led them to a safe place?
