The Tiger's Wife: Chapter 7

Why start the story of the tiger immediately following the story of the deathless man? Is there a connection?

Notice the foreshadowing in the first section of Chapter 7 (pg. 191 in my version).

What is a gusla? What is significant about this item that makes it a great symbol for the story?

We seem to get a lot of extraneous information in this story, especially about Luka. Assuming that it is not extraneous -- that the author does, indeed, have a purpose for this information -- what would that purpose be? Why do we need to know that Luka is a homosexual? Why do we need to know about his goals and aspirations? Find a piece of information that you thought was pointless and try to figure out why that information might actually have purpose and meaning.

Why does Vera allow the narrator's grandfather to carry on a relationship with the tiger's wife?

Do you think Luka was killed by his wife? By the tiger? Or do you think he finally just left?

Why do you think the tiger's wife gave him the hair?

The Tiger's Wife: Chapter 8

What do you think is in the blue bag?

Why does Dure stuff his relive's body into the valise? How would one even manage this?

Why does the narrator volunteer to go to the crossroads for Dure and his family? Is it only to get the kids to the clinic, or is there another reason?\

Although filled with superstitions, this burial is not much more odd than the burial traditions of many religions and cultures. What burial traditions do you find odd in today's society...or even in your own religion?

The Tiger's Wife: Chapter 9

How closely are taxidermy and the profession of the butcher associated? Is there a tie between Darisa and Luka? If taxidermy is "restoring the dead," what is the job of a butcher?

Interesting...we have Darisa hunting for Death, and the deathless man, who is related to Death...

What is the relationship between hunting and death? By default, then, what is Darisa's relationship with death once he becomes a great hunter?

Why wasn't Darisa with his cart and oxen? Was this a trap set by him to catch the tiger? Or the tiger's wife? And what hit the tiger when it attacked the oxen? Darisa was nowhere in sight...

Why did Darisa try to kill the tiger's wife and the narrator's grandfather? What reasoning would he have?

The Tiger's Wife: Chapter 10

What explanation can you come up with for Arlo's death based on the information provided? What causes the awkwardness in the conversation between the narrator and Fra Anton as he tells the story of his brother's death?

Why do you think Fra Anton is so protective of the narrator? What is he protecting her from (or, rather, what does he think he is protecting her from)?

Who takes the jar? Why do you think she follows the man?

The Tiger's Wife: Chapter 11

What would it be like to watch the bombing of Bedford on TV as we sat in our Bedford homes? Would we be like the characters in the book and stick it out? Go to coffee houses? I hope it never happens, but I wonder how we'd all react. Would we make signs of protest? Would we unite to save on of the stables full of horses in the area?

Disturbing images from Zora and the narrator's experiences in the hospital. How is it possible to deal with that level of destruction to the human body?

When telling of how crippled animals are treated in the United States, the narrator says, "They're self-righting." What does she mean by this statement?

On p. 283, the narrator pontificates about the differing natures of war. What might this reflect about the author's views of war?

Review the three sections where the narrator's grandfather starts his stories about the deathless man. Do the descriptions of the grandfather's actions as he begins each part of the story reveal anything?

On the bottom of p. 284, the grandfather tells about the religious differences between he and his wife. What point is he making here?

It just occurred to me to ask this, though I have wondered it throughout the story: why does the deathless man always ask for water?

What is narghile? tumbak?

Was the woman whom the deathless man was with the same woman who abandoned Luka on his wedding day?

Why do you think the deathless man's favorite story from The Jungle Book is Rikki Tikki Tavi's story?

The deathless man says the grandfather will die with suddenness, but we know that he suffers for quite some time before his death. How does this make sense?

Is there any significance in the death of the zoo tiger?

What is the deathless man suggesting when he tells the narrator's grandfather to break the cup?

The Tiger's Wife: Chapter 12

What is it about the apothecary's story that explains who he became as a person? What attributes would you imagine him having based on his experiences before he became an apothecary?

The apothecary learned that "people would turn first to superstition to find meaning, to stitch together unconnected events in order to understand what was happening." What do people in the United States today look to when they seek understanding?

Why does the apothecary kill the tiger's wife? How did this shape the narrator's grandfather?

What makes the apothecary so intensely still and "steady and resigned" as he waited for his execution? What had pulled the fight out of him?

Why does Marko say, "What has that got to do with anything?" Why isn't the burial spot of the tiger's wife important to him?

The Tiger's Wife: Chapter 13

So who is it that the narrator has followed? The deathless man? The mora? Someone else? What evidence leads you to your conclusion?

Is there irony in the fact that the narrator has promised not to tell the wife, yet she is telling us the whole story?

What are your thoughts on the ending of this novel? Is it a satisfactory ending? Why/why not?

Now that you have finished the novel, look at the last page where there are questions for a book club. Some of them are very good. You may want to address one or more of these here. If your version doesn't have the questions, find someone who does have the questions.