Group “F” (or Group “B”) should answer TWO of the following
for class on Wednesday. But everyone should read this story—it’s a really good
one! Much easier than the last one, but metaphorical in the same way, so don’t
read too literally.
Q1: Caroline Yoachim,
who wrote this story, said the idea came from “spoon theory, developed…as a way
to describe living with disability or chronic illness. In spoon theory, the
energy to do tasks is represented by spoons, and people get a limited number of
spoons each day” (354). Why do you think she changed this to ‘turns’ and
created the metaphor of people with wind-up keys in their backs? What does this
help us see or understand about our own lives and ambitions?
Q2: When the narrator, Zee, and Vale are at the master’s
workbench, she notes, “We had agreed on building a boy, but we hadn’t talked
much about the details” (249). Though we don’t build children from a pile of
spare parts, how might this passage relate to the business of starting a family
and raising a child in our world? What kind of conversation should they have
had?
Q3: Much of this story is about the conflict between doing
one’s duty and following one’s heart. How does Zee embody this conflict? Is she
fulfilled in being Mattan’s mother and caregiver? Or does her restricted life
help her appreciate her own mother’s decisions, even if she can never forgive
her?
Q4: Toward the end of the story, Zee reflects, “In childhood
the days stretch out seemingly forever, and we spend our time and turns freely
on any whim that catches our fancy. But at the end of our lives each day
becomes an increasingly greater fraction of the time we have remaining, and the
moments grow ever more precious” (256). Based on this reflection, are longer
lives necessarily happier ones? Is Mattan’s brief life (he’ll never get one
thousand turns) doomed to be unfulfilling? What advantages does Zee’s longer
life and stronger mainspring allow her to achieve?
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