How does Mary both reject her mother, Adelaide, and resemble her at the same time? What impact does her childhood trauma—the death of her father, the desertion by her mother, the loss of her infant brother—have on the development of her character?

How does Karl change throughout the course of the novel? How does his relationship to religion change? How do his relationships with the other characters change?

Compare and contrast Sita with Mary and/or Celestine. How is Sita different from these two women? How is she similar? What are her goals? What kind of life does she envision? What kind of life does she experience?