63 pages • 2 hours read
George SaundersCivilWarLand in Bad Decline
Fiction | Short Story Collection | Adult | Published in 1996A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Summary
Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Character Analysis
Themes
Symbols & Motifs
Important Quotes
Essay Topics
Tools
BetaEssay Topics
What role does religion play in these stories and in the lives of the characters inhabiting these worlds?
Five of the seven protagonists in the collection are unnamed. Why does Saunders choose to do this? Further, why does he give names to the remaining two protagonists?
Compare and contrast two boss figures from the book. Are they more the same or more different?
Only one of the protagonists in the collection is female (Mary). What sort of counterpoint does her gender provide, if any?
While Saunders clearly provides a critical view of the corporate world, does he offer any redeeming qualities thereto?
Can Saunders’s stories be viewed as existential? Why or why not?
As with any work of sociopolitical satire, there are elements of the work that stand the test of time, and other elements that don’t translate as well for a contemporary audience. Saunders’s collection is now over 20 years old. To you, what elements of his social commentary are just as important now as the time the book was written, and which elements, if any, seem to you to be dated?
Related Titles
By George Saunders
