Reef | Topics for Discussion & Projects

Reef Topics for Discussion

What is the breach that the prologue's title refers to?

Triton's name is not revealed until the second part of the book, when a friend of Mister Salgado's addresses him. Why do you think the author waits so long to reveal the name of his narrator?

Discuss the ways in which the bay-fronted house in Reef is like a major character itself.

Discuss the parallels between the destruction of the coral reef and the destruction of life on the island.

Explain what the author means when he says Lucy-amma saw her birthplace turned "from village to jungle and back to village, time and again."

Discuss Wijetunga's transformation from employed assistant to radical revolutionary.

Early in the novel, Mister Salgado is described as "a boy whom history had favored." In your opinion, does he take advantage of or squander his privileged position in society?

At the end of the novel, Triton...
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