Art has a prominent place in the novel, appearing through allusions to musical pieces, sketches and paintings, sculptures, and even plays. What does this suggest about the role of art in nation-building? In the building of individual identity? How does Hans’s role as a Stasi collaborator either contribute or undermine this function?

Does the novel take a position on socialism as a political system? Is this position embodied in either of its central characters, or in the tension between them?

How do you interpret Katharina’s dream at the end of the novel? Do the elements of the dream resonate with the narrative threads, thematic questions, or with Katharina’s character concerns? Cite specific elements of the dream to make your claim.