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'Moloka'i': Themes and Literary Strategies

Themes

β€’ Family

β€’ Perseverance and Hope

β€’ Love, Fleeting or Forever

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β€’ Pain and Illness

β€’ Death

Literary Strategies Used to Convey Themes:

1. Formal Aspects of the Book

β€’ Third-person omniscient narrator

Topics for discussion

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β€’ How is the point of view of the book changed by having a third-person omniscient narrator as opposed to a first person narrator?

2. Structure of chapters

Topics for discussion:

β€’ Why are the chapters arranged in four sections, The Blue Vault of Heaven, The Stone Leaf, Kapu!, and 'Ohana?

β€’ What views of the characters are changed between the sections?

β€’ Why did the author choose to write an endnote, instead of extending the story a few more chapters? How does this help or hinder readers?

3. Language

β€’ Poetic prose

β€’ Integration of Hawaiian words

Topics for discussion:

β€’ How is the reader's experience hindered or enhanced by the inclusion of Hawaiian words and phrases?

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