Black Water (Oates)

Discussion Questions 
Use our LitLovers Book Club Resources; they can help with discussions for any book:

• How to Discuss a Book (helpful discussion tips)
• Generic Discussion Questions—Fiction and Nonfiction
• Read-Think-Talk (a guided reading chart)

Also consider these LitLovers talking points to help get your discussion started:

1. Kelly sees the Senator's invitation as a romantic fulfillment and as a way to change the course of her life. How so? She also believes she is "chosen." In what way is her belief in being chosen ironic?

2. Talk about the ways in which Oates develops Kelly as a character? Describe her personality.

3. The Senator is twice Kelly's age, yet Kelly is attracted to him. Oates seems to be concerned with the nexus of politics, power and eros—or innocence vs. corruption. How do those three forces become entangled, not just in this story, but also in real life?

4. Some readers have found the scene of Kelly trapped in the car lurid and sensationalistic. Others find Kelly's flashbacks and hallucinations brilliantly descriptive. What do you think?

5. Talk about the Senator's stature as a politician vs. his failings as a private individual, as well as a system geared to protect the powerful.

6. You get the references to the real life incident behind this novel, right?

(Questions by LitLovers. Please feel free to use them, online or off, with attribution. Thanks.)

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