Questions for The Thing In The Forest by A.S. Byatt

 

1.  To what extent does the author (story) make the creature “real”?

2.  What means are used to establish this possibility?

3.  To what extent does the a/s undermine that reality?

4.  What means are used to cast doubt on the reality?

5.  What purpose does the wartime setting serve in the story?

6.  What consequences are there for having two protagonists instead of one?

7.   How are the characters’ responses to the experience similar?

8.  How different?

9.  What thematic intent might explain melding the fantastic with the real?

10.  What role does the forest play in the story?