Montana 1948: Part I

WR097 E1/F1 Yoder / Fall 2014

1. Where does Montana 1948 take place? Describe the setting (name of town, location in MT, landscape, population, etc. See, particularly, pages 3-5)

2. On page 7, the narrator admits that his father “didn’t fit [his] ideal of what he should be in his occupation.” Why not? What is the narrator’s ideal, and how/why doesn’t his father fit it?

3. What is a gun generally a symbol for? What qualities do you associate with a gun?

4. What does the narrator mean when he says that his father “tried to turn two ways at once” (9)? Describe each of the “two ways” and how this statement connects to the theme of identity.

5. On pages 10-12, the narrator acknowledges that he wanted to “grow up wild” (10). What does that mean to him? What is associated with “wildness,” and what is the contrast between how he acts inside vs. outside of town?

6. Who is Marie, what is her connection to the Haydens, how does David feel about her, and what is her reaction to the mention of Dr. Hayden? Why, do you think?