The Stone Diaries

Family relationships, friendships, and ancestry are especially significant in the novel. Choose two characters and analyze their relationship to each other. What obstacles do they encounter? Who or what influences their relationship? How does it grow?

The story is mostly told in third person, although Daisy sometimes switches to first person. How would the story be different—in terms of plot, characters, meaning—if the story were told completely in first person?

Daisy and Alice both have moments in their life when they believe they are “making it up as [they go]” in the face of obstacles (342). What other characters could you argue do this? How?

Daisy and her family’s socioeconomic standing influences their choices and behavior. Daisy is well-off with her father in Indiana, is able to be a stay-at-home wife, and lives comfortably after Barker’s death. How might her story be different if this were not so? How important is socioeconomic status as seen in the various characters of the novel?

The story focuses on some characters more than others. For example, we know more about the inner thoughts and feelings of Magnus and Mercy than we do about Joan or Warren. Why do you think this is? What does this do for the story? What other characters are highlighted or left out? How?

The narrative takes on many forms, jumping from prose to letters to character monologues and so on. What does this varying of style add or subtract from the plot and meaning of the work? How might it be different if it were all prose or all letters?

Magnus and Cuyler both cope with losing their wives. How is their method of coping different or the same? What does their way of coping say about their identity and faith in family?

The first and second world wars happen in Daisy’s life span. War acts as a kind of background character, subtly shaping the characters’ lives. Trace references to war throughout the novel. How does the cultural and historical context of war add to the meaning of the story?