1. On page 137, Samantha says that “there was comfort in that state of incompletion,” how incomplete was she? In what ways? And do you think that they will ever go back to what they had left?
2. “She was white; she was educated and most important, the children seemed to be tamed by her very presence.”(on page 137) By emphasizing she was white, does this mean that the women could not have trusted a black lady with the same expertise? Would they instead let their children stay indoors than trust a black lady?
3. On page 142, “Now it was no color at all; the color of something stripped clean for the sake of starting over.” Was she only talking about the car? Or was there much deeper symbolism in the statement?
4. On page 242, she blends in perfectly, she makes friends, and she is doing well in school, unlike the fears she had everything turned out perfectly. After going through a lot, there comes a time where life will give you a break, and this is what is happening — enjoying the valley before facing another hill.
5. On page 135, “women who didn’t exist. Women who had been discarded by the radicals they once loved. And so-bruised, disillusioned, erased from the history books- they found one another”. They all had something in common, not known to each other their circumstances brought them together, and the ones they loved had left them. They became family.
6. On page 135, “ we ran as if we knew what we were running from, knew what we were running towards. And sometimes it seemed that there was indeed a blueprint”. What were they running from? What were they running toward?

Classmate 1

In response to your question 4, when Birdie describes herself as a gray blur, in no way does she refer to her race. She refers to that moment of feeling “not to exist” moment. Just an empty body in motion not aware of what is coming next or what will happen.

In response to your question 1, Birdie is not mishearing her. It is the words that Samantha finds comfort. Especially when people start thinking that she is not black. She says these words to Birdie to confirm to her that there is no chance she is white but black.

Classmate 2

In response to your question 3, I feel that it did not matter to Samantha about Birdie being black or not.  There was a notion that there existed a connection between the two girls due to heritage, but Samantha tends to see people for who they seem to be.

In response to 2, Birdie meant that her mother lacked self-acceptance to be in a position to confront the real world crisis.

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