Endless Love

David moves through various locations and hospitals throughout the novel. How does the novel use settings as physical metaphors for emotional isolation? What spaces, if any, are coded as freeing, and how do they relate to the novel’s plot and themes? Use textual evidence to support your answer.

Analyze how Spencer explores socioeconomic class disparities in Endless Love. How do these disparities affect the characters? Support your analysis with specific examples.

Analyze the portrayal of gender dynamics in Endless Love. How are the female characters depicted in relation to the male characters? Are there any patterns or similarities in the challenges they face? Provide textual details to justify your perspective.

Discuss the role of communism as a motif in the novel. How does it shape David’s life, and how is it relevant to the historical period in which the novel was written?

Discuss the portrayal of legal and illegal substance use in the novel. What events are linked with substance use, and does the novel judge whether these events are positive or negative? Does the novel portray substance use as a positive or negative aspect of the counterculture of the 1960s?

Research US psychiatric hospitals in the 1960s and 1970s. How closely do historical accounts mirror the novel’s descriptions of Rockville and Fox Run? Which practices during this period were proven flawed, and which have carried over into modern psychiatry? What statements, if any, does the novel make about the efficacy of psychiatry in general?

Examine how the novel portrays the moral frameworks of various characters. How do David, Jade, the Butterfields, and other characters grapple with questions of right and wrong? Consider how their personal values and ethical beliefs influence their decisions and interactions with one another. What does the novel suggest about the nature of morality through these characters?

How does Spencer’s approach to storytelling—such as his use of first-person narration and psychological insight—contrast with the narrative techniques found in classic works of tragic romance like Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein or Thomas Hardy’s Tess of the d’Urbervilles? Discuss how these stylistic choices affect the portrayal of love and the characters’ experiences.