The Lacuna

Compare and contrast Frida Kahlo and Mrs. Violet Brown in the novel. What character traits do they share? In what ways are they different? What are the roles they play in Shepherd’s life?

Analyze the significance of cooking at every stage of Shepherd’s life. What does it reveal about his character development?

How does author Barbara Kingsolver use humor in the novel? To what extent does it humanize the characters? What does it reveal about the author’s point of view on the subjects raised?

Harrison Shepherd is upper class, middle class, and working class at different points in the novel. What insights does he gain from each class position? How does it impact his character development as a whole?

Author Barbara Kingsolver wrote The Lacuna in the wake of the moral panic about Islam following the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center in 2001. How do the themes and historical events in the novel relate to that more contemporary moral panic? Use specific examples from the text to support your answer.

What is unusual about Shepherd’s use of language? How does it contrast with the dialects of Bull’s Eye, Tom Cuddy, and Mrs. Brown? What does he find interesting about their use of language?

Explore excerpts of Frida Kahlo’s diary. How is it similar to the published journals of Harrison Shepherd? To what extent is the real Frida Kahlo similar to her fictionalized presentation in The Lacuna?

Analyze the transcript of Shepherd’s testimony to HUAC in Part 6 of the novel. It is the only public appearance of Shepherd in The Lacuna. What does it reveal about his personality and character compared to what is revealed about him in the rest of the novel? To what extent does his public persona differ from his private one?