Book Club Discussion Questions
For supplemental discussion material see our Beyond the Book article, and our BookBrowse Review of Arthur & George.
Please be aware that this discussion guide will contain spoilers!
The discussion questions,
topics, and suggested reading that follow are intended to enhance your group's
conversation about
Arthur & George, Julian Barnes's moving account of
the intersection of the lives of Arthur Conan Doyle, world-famous writer of the
Sherlock Holmes stories, and George Edalji, a Birmingham solicitor imprisoned
for dreadfully gruesome crimes.
About This Book
Julian Barnes brings his
unparalleled narrative and investigative skills to the story of two men born in
Britain in the late nineteenth century. Arthur, the son of an improvident father
and an intelligent, capable Scottish mother, trains as an eye doctor, but
becomes instead the famous creator of Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson. George
Edalji is the son of a Scottish mother and a Church of England vicar who was
born a Parsee in Bombay. And herein his racial differencelies George's
problem.
From his earliest school years he has been jeered at by farm boys and the local
police. Highly intelligent, straitlaced and conscientious, George becomes a
solicitor and writes a book about railway law of which he is very proud. But
minding his own business does him no good: when a series of animal mutilations
brings terror to his local village, George is the only person pursued by the
police. On trumped-up evidence he is convicted and sentenced to seven years'
hard labor. After three years he is released but not cleared of guilt, so he
cannot resume his working life. In desperation, he writes to Arthur Conan Doyle,
who brings to his aid all of the investigative know-how of Sherlock Holmes.
With
Arthur & George, Julian Barnes re-creates the detailed world of
the Edwardian past, and with extraordinary empathy and imagination invites
readers into the relationship between two men whose paths would never have
crossed but for a terrible miscarriage of justice.
Discussion Questions
- One of the first things
we learn about George is that "For a start, he lacks imagination" (4).
George is deeply attached to the facts, while early in life Arthur discovers the
"essential connection between narrative and reward" (12). How does this
temperamental difference determine their approaches to life? Does Barnes use
Arthur and George to explore the very different attractions of truth telling and
storytelling?
- What qualities does the
Mam encourage in Arthur? How does Arthur's upbringing compare with George's?
What qualities are encouraged in George by his parents? What does the novel
imply about one's parents as a determinant in character development?
- To what degree do
George's parents try to overlook or deny the social difficulties their mixed
marriage has produced for themselves and their children? Are they admirable in
their determination to ignore the racial prejudice to which they are subjected?
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- How does the author develop themes of identity and belonging throughout the narrative?
- What role does the setting play in shaping the characters' decisions and relationships?
- Discuss how the ending reframes the events of the story. Were you surprised?
Unless otherwise stated, this discussion guide is reprinted with the permission of Jonathan Cape.
Any page references refer to a USA edition of the book, usually the trade paperback version, and may vary in other editions.