Red Scarf (Furnivall)

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 a discussion started for The Red Scarf:

1. Talk about the conditions of the labor camp and how they foreshadow the Nazi concentration camps 10 years later. What is the camp's purpose, and how realistic do you think the novel's descriptions are?

2. Sofia and Anna form a deep friendship in the camp. Do you think bonds of friendship become more intense under the harsh conditions of a labor camp?

3. Sofia escapes to find Vasily in hopes that he can rescue Anna. After hearing stories about him, has Sofia fallen in love with him before she has even met him? Talk about Sofia's belief that Mikahil is Vasily—and how her growing attraction to him strains or tests the bonds of loyalty to Anna.

4. Discuss the mystical side of the novel. Are the gypsy Rafik's powers believable? Do you think they enhance or detract from what is otherwise a realistic story line?

5. When the Soviets banned the practice of religion, villagers took their faith underground. Why would the regime find religion a threat to the political order? And why will people go to such dangerous lengths to uphold their beliefs?

6. What about the title? What thematic significance does Sofia's red scarf carry in the novel?

7. Do you find the characters believable? Does Furnivall develop them into rich, psychologically complex individuals? Or do you find them flat, stereotypical figures—pure good vs. pure evil? Or something in between?

8. Were you surprised by the novel's reversal of events, the twists and turns of the plot? Did you feel manipulated...or is that how real life sometimes unfolds?

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

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