Confessions

What is the relationship between media and crime in the novel? Which characters seek this relationship, and why?

What is the significance of Kiyomi Shitamura’s narration in Chapter 3? How does her perspective add to or alter the characterization of other members of the Shitamura family?

Of the novel’s three mothers, who is depicted the most sympathetically? Do traditional notions of femininity tie into this sympathy at all?

Many scenes in this novel are repeated several times through different perspectives. Whose perspective proves the most accurate? What does the novel suggest about the reliability of narrators?

Describe Moriguchi and Sakuranomi’s relationship. In what ways does it reinforce one or more of the novel’s themes?

Why is Moriguchi a more respected teacher than Werther? How do the differences between these two teachers inform the novel’s themes and symbolism?

Compare and contrast the roles of teachers and parents in childhood development, as depicted in the novel. What does the novel suggest is the “proper” role of each?

Much of the novel focuses on the fear of acquiring or transmitting HIV, a virus. Consider what HIV represents in the novel: What else does the text suggest can be transmitted or acquired via social connections or the media?