In Chapter 1, when the group that includes Foley and Peggy McKinney learn of the deaths of the Ngo brothers, Peggy tries to lead a college cheer over their deaths. No one will join in, and Sybille Webster weeps over all of the corpses that politics creates. Undeterred, Peggy McKinney insists on a difference between petty Asiatic dictators and presidents of the greatest nation on earth. Discuss the following:

1. Sybille Webster might be considered the "conscience" of the novel. How do you think she serves as a moral barometer? Give specific examples. How do you think she lives with the fact that her husband is part of an organization that will do many illegal and immoral acts to promote a political goal?

2. Debate Peggy McKinney's belief that there is a difference between petty Asiatic dictators and presidents of the greatest nation on earth.

3. Do politics create corpses or do humans create corpses? Is there a difference? Discuss fully.

Essay Topic 2

In Chapter 4, Foley believes Paul is obsessed and questions David's objectivity. Foley is as wildly defensive of the dead JFK as he had been of the living, vibrant one he continues to imitate (he still wears the PT-109 tie clasp). Discuss the following:

1. Who seems most obsessed about Kennedy, both while Kennedy is alive and after his death? What is ironic about Foley thinking Paul is obsessed? Who seems to deal with JFK's death in a more healthy manner--Paul or Foley? Or is either grieving in a healthy way?

2. What do you think the PT-109 tie clasp epitomizes or is symbolic of? What happens when a person dies suddenly or while fairly young (relatively speaking) who is larger than life while alive? Can you think of some recent examples with which to compare the death of Kennedy? (hint: Michael Jackson, Patrick Swayze, etc.).

3. Paul chooses to put his life in danger in order to ferret out the truth behind JFK's assassination. Is this a cause worth risking one's own life and the lives of those one is close to?

Essay Topic 3

In Chapter 7, when Paul declares he will resume his work, Ho mocks his bravado, but the Truong toc shows Paul Molly's picture, taken in Rome. Discuss the following:

1. Why it is more effective to threaten Paul with Molly's safety than his own? Do you think this is often the case for humans--i.e., that threats to their loved ones to illicit compliance is more effective than threats to one's own self?

2. Sybille Webster is angry that Paul is determined to stay with Molly because she thinks it endangers both of them. Do you think she is right to be angry? Do you think it is up to Molly whether she wants to risk death if she stays with Paul? Would it be right for Paul to make that decision for Molly? Discuss fully with details from the book.

3. Sybille Webster is also angry that Paul decides to investigate JFK's murder because it puts Paul's life at risk. Why do you think Paul thinks his life is worth knowing the truth? Do you think the truth is worth the lives that are lost in finding it? Why or why not.

(see the answer keys)

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