Let’s get to know the writer
Here a link to the story ELEPHANT
Reading Questions (discuss with your partner)
- What kind of metaphorical meaning do we get from the story’s title?
- What is the narrator’s dependence or addiction?
- What pattern of the narrator’s pathological behavior becomes evident on page 476?
- How much threat is there when he says he’s going away to Australia? None because everyone knows he’s a junkie giver, an enabler.
- What is dangerous about enablers such as the narrator?
- Why can’t an enabler like the narrator “just say no” and establish boundaries with people?
- In addition to giving or “loaning” people money, what other kinds of enabling behavior do we see?
- How does being a martyr feed the narrator’s ego?
- What is the bitter and ironic truth about enabling others?
- What are the qualities of symbiosis?
