50 pages • 1 hour read
Lauren OliverDelirium
Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 2011A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Essay Topics
Discuss the various ways in which animal imagery is employed throughout the novel. Choose at least three specific images and analyze how they represent various aspects of the society in which Lena lives, and the ways in which she rebels.
How do the epigraphs at the beginning of each chapter influence the story? Why are they significant and/or necessary for each chapter? Focus on at least three distinctly different epigraphs in your analysis.
How do you feel about the actions of Lena’s family by the end of the novel? Are they morally responsible for what they believe and do, or are they merely victims of the oppressive government? Discuss 2-3 specific examples to support your argument.
Examine the various forms of resistance in the novel, from Hana’s rebellion to Grace’s silence. How is each form different? Which would you feel more comfortable with taking? Why?
The story highlights the power of names and labels. How do Lena’s and Alex’s names—both given and chosen—affect their characterizations and/or ideologies?
What predictions can you make about where the rest of the series will take the story and its characters? What questions of self-discovery are still unanswered, and what is left for Lena to learn about the world and herself?
How does this novel differ from other dystopian and/or YA literature you have read? How does a dystopia present new challenges or opportunities for communicating traditional YA themes?
Consider how gender norms might influence the plot and the world of the novel. How might the cure and society’s expectations before and after the procedure be different for young boys than young girls? How much of this world is futuristic, and how much of it is based on antiquated ideas of gender norms? Highlight specific examples to support your argument.
Although the cure has to do more with emotions and love, how is the “disease” and procedure connected to physicality and touch? How is Lena’s awakening evidenced in her physical relationship with Alex, Hana, and her family?
Choice and free will are both significant elements in the novel, especially when they are taken away. Consider the fate of Lena’s parents. Her father died of cancer, and her mother apparently died by suicide, although later we learn that she was imprisoned. How does the concept of choice affect Lena’s acceptance of their fates? Of her own?
