We know now about PTSD and the ways in which Ernt would have been suffering and the ways in which he could now be helped, but that help didn’t exist in the seventies. Ernt was a prisoner of war for several years. If you experienced the seventies, what was it like to read about those years? Did it match up with your memories of it, or color the story for you? Did the popular culture references remind you of your own life? And if you didn’t experience the seventies, what did you learn about the era from the novel?Ĩ. Do you think the world feels dangerous today? Do you think the unrest and troubles of the seventies are relevant today? Can we learn from them? What does The Great Alone have to say about the idea of turning one’s back on civilization and the problems of society?ħ. Why do you think the author chose this time period? How did the world at that time, with the political unrest and kidnappings and plane hijackings, factor into the plot? Why do you believe the back-to-the-earth movement spoke to so many people in the seventies? Why did it speak to Ernt?Ħ. The Great Alone is set in the turbulent world of America in the 1970’s. Large Marge tells Cora and Leni that “in Alaska, everyone is either running to something or running away from something.” Do you think this is particularly true to wild places like Alaska? Or has is always been true of the American pioneer? How would you compare and contrast the homesteaders in Alaska to the pioneers in early America, who came west in covered wagons? How are the modern Alaska homesteaders different? How are they the same? What do you think draws people to the wild, unpredictable and remote corners of Alaska?ĥ. What aspects of the Alaska/homesteader lifestyle would you find the most challenging in the wild? How would you handle the isolation, the interdependence among neighbors, the climate? Would you have what it takes to survive?Ĥ. How do you think these different nicknames describe different parts of the state?ģ. The Last Frontier, The Land of the Midnight Sun, The Great Alone.

How did the landscape create and shape this story? Is this a story that could have taken place anywhere? Or was the solitude of Alaska part of the fabric of the novel?Ģ.

The author clearly wants you to understand both the grandeur and danger that are present every day in the Last Frontier. An incomparable landscape.” (31) Alaska is definitely a character in this novel. “It was otherworldly somehow, magical in its vast expanse. Spoiler Alert: Please note that the discussion guide below contain spoilers to the book.ġ.

Book the great alone