Riders of the Purple Sage

How does the novel view the Mormon church? Is the text’s view nuanced in any way? How does its view of the Mormon church impact representations of gender? Use passages from the text to explain your answer.

Why does Tull confront Jane in regard to her friendships with non-Mormon settlers in the Cottonwoods area? How does the time period of the novel impact this distrust of non-Mormon people? How do Jane’s friendships with non-Mormon people create the conflict within the plot?

Who is Oldring? Why does Venters make special note of seeing Oldring near Jane’s property on the night before the red herd disappears? Why does Venters follow Oldring into Deception Pass? What does this say about Venters’s character?

What does the masked rider’s true identity communicate about the novel’s time period? In what ways does the masked rider mirror Jane and why? Compare the lives of the masked rider and Jane. How do they differ and why?

How does Surprise Valley play a role in addressing the cultural history of the area in which the novel is set? What does this communicate about the characters and how they acknowledge the history, if at all? How would the narrative change without the inclusion of Surprise Valley?

How does Jane’s inner conflict about her religion reflect the conflict between the members of the Mormon church and those they deem non-Mormon people? How is this contrasted by characters like Tull and Venters? What do these representations illustrate about Religious Conflict and Morality Versus Virtue Signaling?

How does Jane’s father impact her life after his death? In what ways does Jane benefit from her father’s legacy? How does Jane confront his legacy, and what does their relationship communicate about the novel’s theme of Gender Dominance and Dynamics?

In what ways does Oldring contradict and confirm traditional tropes of the Western genre? How does this change the novel’s interpretation of Gender Dominance and Dynamics? How do Oldring’s and Venters’s interactions influence them and their relationships with women?