The Sparrow

CHAPTERS 1-7

Reading Check

1. Sophia is effectively an indentured servant, owing a debt to a broker who helped her attain an education. She is motivated to move on from this arrangement as soon as possible. (Chapter 5)

2. Emilio’s physical injuries are a marked reminder of the violence done to him on Rakhat. He is very reliant on other priests, particularly John Candotti, to help care for him. His physical weakness and helplessness seem to cause sadness and emotional turmoil; even when he improves physically, his emotional well-being does not. (Chapters 1, 3, and 6)

Short Answer

1. In 2019, Father Emilio Sandoz, S.J. is willing to give everything he has as part of his work as a Jesuit. He has lived all over the world, having earned a doctorate in linguistics. He is good-natured and often seen joking with his friends. However, by 2059, he is a shell of himself, one who “discovered the outermost limit of faith and, in doing so, had located the exact boundary of despair” while on Rakhat (Chapter 2). He is much less talkative than in the past and hesitant to share with others. Injuries sustained while on Rakhat such as his brutally disfigured hands and illness such as scurvy contribute to his weakness and helplessness. (Chapters 1-7)

2. Emilio and Jimmy are both naturally curious, with the former having already earned a PhD and the latter considering it. Likewise, Anne and George Edwards are lifelong learners, with Anne having taken Latin in her fifties. They both continue to be involved in Emilio’s life even after he leaves Cleveland, accompanying him first to Puerto Rico and then to space. Likewise, Sophia’s job requires that she learn, but she also has a natural aptitude for designing AI programs to replicate human processes. (Chapters 3-5)

3. As a priest, Emilio is unable to enter into a romantic relationship; however, this does not mean that he doesn’t experience romantic feelings or attractions to other women. He must contend with his feelings for Sofia, and Anne is secretly attracted to the Jesuit. (Chapters 5 and 7)

CHAPTERS 8-15

Reading Check

1. “Horizon deprivation” refers to the inability to look off into the distance. The term relates to Emilio in a figurative sense; he feels confined and wants to focus on something further off to feel distance from what he has experienced. (Chapter 9)

2. The members learn about one another’s specialties in case something happens to them. (Chapter 15)

Short Answer

1. Sofia is in a difficult position; the contract, if successful, could pay up to three times her normal fee, allowing her to finally be free from her broker. On the other hand, there is also a chance she won’t be paid anything at all, making the contract potentially a waste of her time. (Chapter 8)

2. Language begins to gain importance in this section. Not only has Sofia returned to be Jimmy’s vulture after working previously with Emilio, but Emilio and the others also begin to think about the “Singers,” realizing these aliens have their own language and can communicate through song. (Chapter 11)

3. Both Vincenzo and Sofia make connections to the Jesuits and travelers of the past. Vincenzo, when he meets with Emilio, first points out that the Jesuit missionaries throughout the ages have been tortured and killed. Sofia also notes that traveling via an asteroid is no worse than the ships used during the 1500s. Additionally, Felipe Reyes’ visit to Emilio sparks Vincenzo to think about how Jesuits are trained to become martyrs, but not survivors. (Chapters 9, 11, and 14)

4. Emilio wrestles with feelings for Sofia and his vow of celibacy. Anne also wrestles with a belief in God, thinking that she is inclined to believe those who have made it their purpose in life to follow God. Eventually, she has a very distinct experience of finding faith once aboard the asteroid. Students may also reference Sofia’s choice to go to Jerusalem once she is freed from her broker. (Chapters 12, 13, and 15)

CHAPTERS 16-23

Reading Check

1. The crew opts to land outside of the city so that they can study the environment and adapt to the planet. (Chapter 18)

2. Narratively, Russell builds tension by emphasizing that the night before their departure from the ship is the breaking point between before and after arriving on Rakhat. Everyone understands that their lives will likely be very different once they encounter the planet. (Chapter 19)

Short Answer

1. Emilio is agnostic, but with everything coming together so quickly, the mission makes him feel like God has a plan for him. He feels as though he is falling in love with God. (Chapter 18)

2. Anne feels that, as the doctor, she is responsible when someone dies. However, when someone survives—or when a miracle occurs—God gets all the credit. Marc validates her questions and suggests that asking such questions will bring humanity closer to the divine. (Chapter 19)

3. Felipe relates how difficult it could be for poor Puerto Rican boys like Emilio and him in a predominantly white order of priests like the Jesuits. Having dealt with masculine expectations from their families as well as their own outsider status within the order, they experience the world very different from the Italian Giuliani. However, Giuliani thinks that he too had his reasons and baggage when entering the Jesuits because of his family’s ties to the Camorra, the Neapolitan mafia. (Chapter 20)

CHAPTERS 24-32

Reading Check

1. Emilio is likely upset that the papers didn’t get published because Sofia is gone, and it feels like nothing came from her death. (Chapter 25)

2. Supaari attacks Emilio because he thinks the humans are poachers, since only poachers hunt meat without permission. This moment helps readers to understand that the Jana’ata are carnivores, in comparison with the herbivore Runa. (Chapter 27)

Short Answer

1. Supaari wishes to increase his standing, and the only way to do that is to gain the patronage of Hlavin Kitheri. He hopes that the goods he receives from the humans will help him to catch the favor of Kitheri. Ultimately, in selling Emilio to Kitheri, he is made a Founder of his own line. (Chapter 24)

2. The garden allows the Runa to not have to forage, and it eventually causes the Runa women to get pregnant. Ultimately, this leads the Jana’ata to come and kill the Runa babies for meat. Sofia leads a rebellion against the Jana’ata, but it fails; the members of the crew die in the fight, along with many of the Runa villagers. (Chapters 29 and 30)

3. Vincenzo has Emilio recount what has happened to him because he believes that Emilio is still wrestling with the experience and trying to find meaning in it. This reveals that Vincenzo, if not Emilio himself, believes that a reason and purpose exist in the events.