The Cave (33 page)

9. What is Found's role in the novel? How does his canine perception of the world measure up to reality? What does his new family find in him?

10. What do the novel's primary characters hope for? What keeps Isaura and Cipriano apart? What finally unites them?

11.
The Cave
bears several hallmarks of Saramago's literary form: lines of dialogue are not differentiated with quotation marks, paragraphs might unfold over several pages, and innocuous details take center stage in the midst of suspense. In what way do these elements enhance the believability of Saramago's fiction?

12. Envisioning Saramago's novels as one continuum, in what way does The Cave respond to his previous characters and scenarios?

13. Did your attitude toward Cipriano shift throughout the novel? What did you make of him at first?

14. The novel ends with the family's reunion and liberating departure. Where do you imagine they are going? What would their version of idyllic living be like?

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