The Country of the Pointed Firs and Other Stories

My Great Books book club discussed “The Country of the Pointed Firs” on August 24, 2024.

I first learned about this book when Shimer College (a Great Books school) was closing down their library and moving to North Central College in Naperville. A few years later, I lucked into a family trip to the south east coast of Maine in September and absolutely loved it.

So, imagine my elation that I was finally able to convince the rest of the group to read this book! It was the perfect summer trip when one is not able to make it out to the coast.

At first, the book might seem simple or not have much of a plot. However, we receive an entrée into a tight-knit community devastated by dangerous fishing expeditions and the US Civil War. We also see a lonely author making friends with the wonderful people of Dunnets Landing; there is no question that her life is changed for the better after her summer there.

Considering that this book is set in the late 1800s during a Victorian, strait-laced time, there is a refreshing freedom to all of the characters' movements and thoughts. No one bats an eye when the main character, whose name we never learn, goes off on a walk in the country with her friends' brother.

The book also has a lot to say about friendship and is really worth a read, although it is often overlooked today.

Here are discussion questions I put together from a combination of online sources and some of my own questions:

1. The novella is considered a shining example of local color. Did the regional dialect used in the book add to, distract from, or have a neutral effect on the story?
2. Did you feel like Orne-Jewett transported you to coastal Maine about 130 years ago? How does the at times idyllic and other times harsh coast of Maine, or “Country of the Pointed Firs,” relate to the townspeople's inner lives?
3. How has the town of Dunnet Landing changed over time based on the stories related to the narrator? Has the community become tighter-knit as the men of the town died at sea or in the Civil War, the shipping industry declined, and younger folks moved away?
4. Why do you think we never find out the narrator's name? Is it unusual that none of the townspeople ever address her by name as would have been the custom of the time? How much writing do you think she actually accomplished? Do you think the narrator ever returns?
5. Throughout the story, several townsfolk tell the narrator stories featuring supernatural events. How did these second-hand accounts interweave with the realistic tone of the rest of the novella?
6. Meals are often served before major storytelling sections. What is the interconnection between food and people's lives?
7. Throughout the novella, the theme of friendship comes up in different ways. What was the author trying to express about this type of relationship for the townspeople?
8. Consider the story of Mrs. Todd's and the minister's visit to Joanna Todd. Also consider the book is set during the Victorian era. What is the view of religion in Dunnet Landing? Did the allusions to Greek mythology and other classics seem more pervasive than Protestant or Christian allusions?
9. Do you consider the novel a feminist work?
10. Did you read the “Four Related Stories” about Dunnet Landing? Did they provide a different view of the town and its people?


Sources and Further Reading:
https://www.gradesaver.com/the-country-of-the-pointed-firs-and-other-stories/study-guide/essay-questions
https://www.enotes.com/topics/country-pointed/themes
https://litdevices.com/literature/country-pointed-first/