Exodus

Research the life of Leon Uris. How did his experiences play a role in shaping the perspective conveyed in Exodus? How does Exodus reflect some of the wider cultural and political currents of its time?

The novel blends the telling of its fictional characters’ lives into real-life historical incidents. How does the novel balance fact and fiction? What does a novelistic treatment of this subject matter offer that a purely nonfiction account would not?

Describe and analyze some of the ways in which Exodus fits the genre of a national epic. How does its narrative and characterization differ from that of a more typical novel? How does this affect its depiction of Israel?

Examine the gender dynamics in the novel. How are the female characters characterized in comparison to the male characters? How do the interpersonal and romantic connections between the characters illustrate the gender dynamics in the novel more generally?

Analyze the role of Kitty in the novel. How is she characterized? What is her wider significance?

Barak and Akiva’s conflicting views on how best to deal with Britain and their Arab neighbors embody some of the wider debates taking place in the Jewish community of that time. How are these views represented? What does the novel reveal about the strengths and drawbacks of each brother’s approach?

Analyze the use of flashbacks in the novel. What purpose do they serve? How do they affect the novel’s narrative structure, characterization, and/or its exploration of its key themes and ideas?

Consider the incident of the attempted evacuation of the children aboard the Exodus ship in the novel. How is this incident depicted? How does it illuminate some of the novel’s key themes and ideas?