The Savage Kind

Reading Guide

Opposites Attract

At the beginning of the novel, Judy and Philippa sharply contrast: Philippa comes across as a typical teenager of the time, and Judy stands out as rebellious, even dangerous. But, in reality, to what degree are they similar? How do they change toward each other during the book?

The Femme Fatale

The Savage Kind is in dialogue with the femme fatale archetype that gained popularly in the crime fiction of the 1930s and 1940s and reached its cultural apex during in post-WWII film. What characteristics of the classic femme fatale do Philippa and Judy exemplify? How do their behavior and attitudes challenge the traditional archetype?

Being LGBTQ in 1948

Philippa and Judy are romantically attracted to each other and must navigate those feelings during a time in history known to be particularly oppressive to the LGBTQ community. How might they have understood themselves differently today? What obstacles do you think they would still face?

Literary Allusions

Throughout The Savage Kind, allusions to Romantic literature, Gothic novels, and classical myths abound because Judy and Philippa are avid readers and wish to emulate their beloved teacher, Miss Martins. So how are works like Wuthering Heights, Jane Eyre, Keats’s poetry, and Ovid in dialogue with these characters and the novel’s plot?

Frame Narrator

In the first few pages, the frame narrator speaks directly to readers, stating that she is either Judy or Philippa but refuses to divulge who she is. Why does she do this? What is she hoping to achieve? Is it meant just as another form of manipulation, or is there more to it? 

Women’s Roles

There’s a large cast of women characters in The Savage Kind, spanning a range of ages, backgrounds, and identities. To what degree do these characters represent “types” of the time—the housewife, the mistress, the matriarch, the ingénue—and how do they, to different degrees, challenge those stereotypes?

Historical Events

During the post-WWII era, significant political and social changes were occurring in the US. At first glance, it seems these two relatively affluent teenage girls would be fairly insulated from these changes. How has that changed by the end of the novel? How does that figure into their growth as characters?

Identity

In the novel, the uncovering of the true identity of certain characters is a twisted road with many surprises. Philippa and Judy expose the truth about the characters around them, but they are also on a journey to self-discovery. How are the twist and turns in the narrative connected to their struggle to grasp their identities? 

Interpretation

From a frame narrative to curated diary entries to the letter that concludes the novel, The Savage Kind is structured to suggest that past events are always open to interpretation. What questions still linger for you at the end? Why? And what predictions do you make about book two in the trilogy?

Dodging and Burning

Reading Guide

1) In Dodging and Burning, the narrators, Bunny and Ceola, have their love for Jay in common; however, they're very different from each other. How does this difference cause tension between them as girls? Is it fully resolved once they’re older women?

2) Why do you think Ceola addresses her portion of the narrative to her dead brother, Robbie? What does this tell you about her feelings toward him even as an older woman? Who is Bunny writing for? What does that tell you about her?

3) In the 1940s, mainstream society viewed homosexuality as psychologically abnormal and/or the product of morally corrupt urban environments. During the time period of the novel, what challenges did these characters face in coming to terms with their own homosexuality or the marginalized sexuality of others? Do some of these challenges still remain today?

4) How do the settings in the story—Royal Oak, VA; Washington, DC; London; the Ardennes—bring out different aspects of these characters? What’s the correlation between location and self-discovery?

5) In the novel, many of the characters tell stories to other characters—Jay to the girls, Robbie to Ceola, Terry to Jay, etc. What do these stories reveal about their tellers and about their audience?

6) The pulp story “A Date with Death” is interwoven with the other chapters. It concerns a character whose tragic fate is irrevocable. How does this story resonate with themes in the primary narrative?

7) At several points in Dodging and Burning, characters are “read” incorrectly by other characters? Jay is read as a straight man; Bunny is read as a transvestite? How does this misreading come about? What might the cause of it be?

8) Jay loves code making and code deciphering. What other codes—social or cultural—are evident in the book? What do these codes reveal about the time period?

9) “Dodging” and “burning” are photographic terms that play an important role in the plot, but they also have secondary metaphorical meanings. What are those meanings? Are there a variety of interpretations?

10) To different degrees, Jay, Bunny, and Ceola deceive themselves through the course of the novel? By the end of the book, has that self-deception lifted for each of them?