Saturday, October 25, 2014

The Given Day, by Dennis Lehane


Characters
Irish Community and Boston Police
African American Community
Revolutionaries
Babe Ruth
Coughlin Family
Aiden/Danny
Tommy – father, Police Captain
Connor – son, lawyer
Ellen – mother
Joe – youngest son
 
Daniel Sante – Danny’s undercover name
 
Eddie McKenna – uncle, Lieutenant
 
Nora – housekeeper, engaged to Connor, married Danny
Quentin Finn – husband in Ireland
 
Steve Coyle – Danny’s partner, disabled
 
Mark Denton – head of BSC
 
Steven O’Meara – police commissioner, died
 
Edwin Upton Curtis – new commissioner, fired, reinstated by Coolidge
 
Rayme Finch – government agent
 
Gov. Calvin Coolidge
John Hoover
James Jackson Stover – president, GM
 
Luther Laurence
Lila – wife
Desmond - son
 
Club Almighty:
Deacon, Dandy  – killed by Luther
Jesse – friend – killed by others
Smoke – left alive
 
Isaiah Giddreaux
Yvette – wife
 
Clayton Tomes – working with Luther on NAACP building – killed by McKenna
 
 
 
Federico Ficara – killed by Danny
Tessa Ficara – wife, affair with Danny
 
Nathan Bishop
 
Louis Fraina
Pyotr Glaviach – driver, body guard
 
Luigi Galleani
Helen – wife
 
Johnny Igoe – agent
 
Harry Frazee – owner, Boston Red Sox

 For Discussion:

NOTE:  All page numbers refer to the paperback edition of the book

1. Thinking about the events that transpired in Tulsa that ended up with him killing Deacon, Luther reflected that “It took only a second for another to arrive on the same path as yours and change your life to a point it couldn’t change back.  One second.”  (Chapter 23, page 388).   Did the same thing happen to anyone else in the novel?  Have you met anyone who changed your life in a minute?

2. When Luther had the flat tire and was picked up by Bernard and Cully, they were talking about the war and how Germany was going to lose 15% of its coal and 50% of steel production because of “backing the play of a friend.”  They were talking about friends and how “you don’t pick friends.  You find each other.”  (Chapter 11, page 203)  How have you met your friends?  How did you meet the people you are discussing this book with?

3. Babe Ruth liked life during baseball season because everything was planned for him, he did not have to make any decisions.  Can you relate?

4. Why was Babe Ruth included in the novel?    What was the author’s point with the opening story where Babe Ruth and his teammates played a baseball game with Luther and his friends?

5. Why did Nathan Bishop save Danny during the May Day riot when the teenager was going to shoot him?

6. Eddie McKenna described Danny as having “’fair’ in your head now…You think it is attainable.  You do.  I can see it.”  (Chapter 18, page 327).  How is this an accurate description of Danny?  How did his desire for fairness change the way he acted and lived?

7. Why did Joe run away the first time and again during the riots?

8. What role did the press play in the riots?  For example, the press had heard reports that Major Peters wanted the State Guard at the beginning but Curtis denied the request.  (Chapter 39, page 666)  Then Coolidge lied about this and the press took his word and published the incorrect story.

8a. How does this relate to an earlier comment by Rayme Finch to Thomas Coughlin regarding the false suspicion that the molasses tank explosion was a terrorist act when he stated “People don’t want the truth, they want certainty.  Or the illusion of it.”  (Chapter 29, page 491)

9. Why do you think everyone rioted when the police went on strike?

10.Do you think Danny was to blame for everything including Connor’s blindness?

11. Do you think Danny and Nora will ever be welcomed back into the Coughlin family?

12. How did you like this book?  Was it enjoyable, disturbing or a mixture of both?

13. Live by Night (2012) continues the story of the Coughlins with Joe now a gangster being released from jail.  Does this story development surprise you?  Why do you think Joe turned to a life of crime when he came from a family of policemen and lawyers?
*****
First Semester Success: Learning Strategies and Motivation for Your First Semester (or Any Semester) of College, by Dr. Arden B. Hamer, is available at wordassociation.com, amazon.com and barnesandnoble.com.

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