61 pages 2 hours read

N. K. Jemisin

The Stone Sky

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2017

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Essay Topics

1.

The issue of personal autonomy is central to the novel. Houwha, Nassun, Schaffa, and the tuners and orogenes all struggle with a lack of control over their lives. Explore some of the ways agency is taken from people throughout the novel, and some ways they fight back or resist the forces that oppress them.

2.

The Stone Sky presents many different versions of community. Which community is most ideal? How do successful communities avoid the pitfalls of those that fail? What makes it so difficult to create an equitable and just society in this world?

3.

The Obelisk Gate raised the question of whether someone like Schaffa can redeem themselves after a lifetime of violence and abuse. By the end of The Stone Sky, do you think he has earned redemption? Why or why not?