QUESTIONS

1. Howard can’t communicate in “normal” ways. What is the effect of having a narrator with this limitation?
   

2. Which characters communicate successfully with him?
   

3. Why does Howard give up on his rehabilitation?
   

4. After his attempt at rehabilitation, why does Howie isolate himself from other people?
   

5. How and why do other characters isolate themselves from society or from those around them?
   

6. What is the significance of the ha-ha?
   

7. Why is Howie angry? What is he afraid of?
   

8. How does the author show the changes that are taking place in the characters through descriptions of incidents of daily life?
   

9. Why does Howard root for Nagy at the fight?
   

10. Howard says he despises Nit and Nat, yet he is jealous of them. Why?
    

11. The injury he received changed Howard’s life drastically. What was his life like before he went to Vietnam?
    

12. What does Howie get away with because of his disability (an example: on page 54 he says “nobody’s expected an apology from me in years.”)?
    

13. What are the images of war Howard recalls?
    

14. Why does Howie react so strongly to Timothy’s miserable life?
    

15. Why does Howie have hopes for a future with Sylvia, even though he knows her so well?
    

16. What saves the book from bleakness?
    

17. How does King avoid sentimentality and sappiness?

18. The effect of war on those who served in it is treated through Howard’s and Timothy’s characters. Is King making a statement about Vietnam or other wars?