So Big

The novel opens with a brief scene between Selina and Dirk before moving back in time to Selina’s childhood. What is the effect of structuring the story in this manner?

August Hempel is a successful businessman in the meatpacking trade. How does his rise to fortune and status reflect his working-class values? How does he maintain these values in spite of his great wealth?

From a young age, Selina wanted to be a novelist and to travel the world. These plans were changed when she fell in love with Pervus. To what extent does Selina find a different way to express her ideas and beliefs? How does her work on the farm serve as a form of self-expression?

Dirk flirts with the idea of being an architect but never succeeds in realizing the heights of this ambition. What forces, both internal and external, stand in his way?

On arrival in High Prairie, Selina is taken aback by the patriarchal community and its refusal to entertain her ideas because she is a woman. To what extent does Pervus embody this same patriarchal attitude?

Pervus dies after contracting a fever. To what degree is the fever a consequence of economic and systemic forces, and to what degree is it a consequence of his own choices?

Paula Hempel Storm marries a rich man because she is concerned about being poor, only for her family to become richer than ever. What does this irony suggest about the dangers of placing money above other forms of value?

Throughout Dirk’s childhood, Selina is determined to allow him to pursue whatever ambition he wants. Gradually, however, she comes to realize that her son is much more materialistic than she is. How does Selina stop herself from intervening in Dirk’s life? Does she always succeed?