Compare the characters of Amelia and Lucy. Consider: What aspects of Lucy’s character do you think remind Mike of Amelia? What are the reasons for Mike’s attraction to Amelia and to Lucy? Are those reasons similar? How do those relationships reflect Mike’s character development within the novel?

Julian and Gunnar seem to represent opposite ends of the spectrum between sophistication and wildness, refinement and roughness. Where does Mike fall on this spectrum? Compare and contrast Mike’s character with Julian’s and Gunnar’s. What does Mike have in common with each of them? What distinguishes him from each of them?

Trace appearances of water in the novel, especially in Mike’s dreams and fantasies, in his criminal adventures, and in his recollection of his childhood trauma. What does water symbolize in the novel? Does it have different significance in different contexts? What connects these different appearances of water in the novel?