The Sweet Hereafter

Was Nichole’s decision to lie about the accident “just”? Why or why not?

What role do secrets play in these characters’ lives? In particular, how do secrets—such as the sexual abuse of Nichole by her father and the affair between Ansel and Risa—complicate the idea of personal responsibility, motivation, empathy, and judgment?

How does the incident in Jamaica serve as a turning point for Billy Ansel? How is that experience the same as, or different from, his time in Vietnam? How do the deaths of his children fit with, or break from, his previous experience with and understanding of death?

Lawyer Mitchell Stephens is the only first-person narrator who does not see or directly experience the accident. How does his outsider, expert status inform his perspective? Are there any parallels between Stephens and the parents he seeks to represent?

Each narrator lacks considerable understanding regarding how the other narrators feel and what they have experienced. How does this ignorance, distance, and misunderstanding operate to complicate the story of individuals attempting to deal collectively with trauma and grief?

Stephens says that Dolores, like the parents who lost their children in the accident, is both “guilty” and “innocent” (144). Is Dolores a victim? Ultimately, does the speed she was driving really matter? Why or why not?

What role does the demolition derby play for the people of Sam Dent? How does it serve as a proxy for their experience of grief and anger? Why does Banks use the setting and action of the demolition derby?

Stephens thinks that by attending the funerals, Dolores is “compelling” the people of Sam Dent to “define her” (143). In the end of the novel, when the people of the town blame her for the accident, does she allow the people of Sam Dent to define her? If not, how does she define herself?