DQs for Shantyboat: American Dystopia

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS FOR

SHANTYBOAT: AMERICAN DYSTOPIA (2023)

By Carl Parsons

01. Explain the importance of the opening scene. Whom do we meet? What sort of life are they leading? What do they have in common? What opinions do they form about the shantyboats? What is the alternative to living in a shantyboat for the homeless?

02. Chapter 2 is entitled “Prisoners.” Who are the prisoners? Just the people on trash detail? How do the guards treat the shantyboat residents? What does the behavior of the guards tell us about this new American society?

03. Why do Dale and Rodney decide to build their own shantyboat? During the novel what do shantyboats come to represent? Outside the context of the novel, how do most people regard shantyboats today when used as residence? Then consider the history of shantyboats on American rivers, especially during the Great Depression.

04. We gradually learn about a greatly changed America in the novel. How has it changed and why? Do you see any actual current trends that could produce such an altered country? How do Rodney and Dale explain the change? What does the interrogation chapter tell us about how the state administers law enforcement and justice? Why do they behave in this way?

05. Compare and contrast Rodney and Dale. Which man has the broader knowledge of America’s decline? Why do both men become murderers?

06. Discuss Delia’s character. Why does her plan for creating a home repair business prove so successful? What does its success say about how America has changed? What does Delia know about how the federal government works that proves so useful in running the home repair business? 

07. Has Delia acted justifiably with respect to her husband? What factors motivate her? Is she in love with Dale, or is theirs a relationship of mutual convenience? 

08. The narrator seems to compare Delia to the Greek goddess Athena. For example, note the painting in the living room of the mother owl feeding a mouse to her owlets; the owl was Athena’s totem animal. Just how is Delia like Athena? Is it a justifiable comparison?

09. Why does the Federal government attack the shantyboat residents? What does this tell us about the government? How does the town react, and what are the implications for the future?