Ben | Topics for Discussion & Projects

Ben Topics for Discussion

1. Central to "Ben" is the narrator's personality, and his moral compromises offer much opportunity for discussion. When does the narrator begin to accept slavery as part of his life? Why does he do it?

2. Why is Samantha smiling and reluctant to leave the home of Ben and Martha at the story's end?

3. Why does the narrator decide to marry Samantha even though he is dismayed by the prospect of managing slaves?

4. What qualities does Elliot McGuire have that his son Albert lacks that make the difference between successfully running or ruining a plantation?

5. What is the purpose and effect of comparing slaves to horses?

6. What aspects of slavery make the practice seductive to the narrator?

7. Why does Ben pretend not to know the narrator and Samantha when they meet in Canada?...
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