Blackouts

Explore a moment when Juan and Nene playfully use an insult or slur. How does this play change the word? How does this tie into one of the novel’s themes?

Analyze one of the parental figures in the novel. How are they characterized? What does this characterization reveal about them and their child?

Consider Juan’s assessment that “not all ambiguities need to be resolved” (210). How does this provide a metric for understanding the novel itself? What role does ambiguity play in the novel?

Nene and Juan will sometimes ask for a “terrible” or “arousing” story, which is followed by a tale that may not match. If taken at face value, how do these requests affect their stories? Do they affect your understanding of the stories?

Time is a fluid concept in the novel. At the same time, Justin Torres references historical events. Choose both a moment of “timelessness” and a historical event, and argue how each affects character portrayal.

Research the context of one of Juan’s quotes or references. How does knowing this context alter its meaning?

Juan spends much of the novel teaching Nene, and in Part 6, Nene takes Juan’s storytelling advice as his lucidity fades. What does their dynamic suggest about teaching and learning? Does the novel’s final memory reflect Nene’s education by Juan, or something else?

The participants of the Sex Variants: A Study of Homosexual Patterns Variants study are anonymized and meant to represent “types” of people. Does Nene, who is technically unnamed, represent a “type” or not? Does this framing read differently in the novel than the study?