Questions from The Memory of Butterflies for Discussion:

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1.  How might things have been different if Hannah had gone to college after graduation, as intended?   How might this have affected George Bridger’s decision and his granddaughter’s life?

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2.  What did you think when Hannah made the decision to keep the child? Did she make a rational choice? Was it the right choice? Later, she says she would’ve come forward if the child’s father had returned earlier. Do you think she would have?

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3.  Secrets were kept from Hannah by her grandparents, and Hannah, in turn, keeps secrets from her daughter. Ultimately, Hannah confesses the truth to Ellen yet, at the end of the story, she tells one more lie, deliberately and with forethought, to protect her. Would you have done the same?

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4.  Themes of love, truth, loss, and acceptance recur throughout this story, but the predominant theme is that of birth and rebirth, both literally and figuratively, in the references to metamorphosis, the Cooper cemetery, and Hannah’s clay figurines. Which recurring motifs or symbols spoke to you?

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