margaret coel
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The Story Teller: Readers Guide

The Story Teller
  1. Discuss Vicky's position among her people as a woman and an attorney. What does she expect from the Arapahos?


  2. Discuss the character of Father John. Why is he willing to challenge the Jesuit superiors and put his own reputation on the line to establish a museum for St. Francis Mission? Why, when he finally gets an interview with the Provincial, does he go off with Vicky? How do his actions exemplify the conflicts in his life?


  3. What is Vicky's sense of the places that once belonged to her people and how does she react to being in these places? Fort example, the land where Denver is located, the plains of Colorado, the site of the Sand Creek Massacre.


  4. Discuss Vicky's background. Do you believe she feels guilty over her failed marriage and over not raising her own children? How does she handle the guilt?


  5. Discuss Vicky's determination to see justice done in the homicides of the young Arapahos. Why is she so determined and why does she feel so involved?


  6. Discuss the reasons Vicky wishes to find the missing Arapaho ledger book.


  7. What is the importance of the ledger book to the plot?


  8. What does Father John hope to achieve in this novel? Does he achieve his goals?


  9. Discuss the relationship between Father John and Vicky.


  10. Discuss Vicky's relationship with her Denver friends. What does that relationship divulge about Vicky?