The Eyes and the Impossible

How does Johannes’s story demonstrate The Importance of Beauty and Balance? How does the protagonist protect balance through his role as the Eyes, and how does he learn to moderate his love of beauty? What point is the author making about the human relationship to nature through Johannes’s arc?

Select two of Johannes’s friends and compare and contrast their personalities and character arcs. How do they each play an important role in the novel by advancing the plot, emphasizing a theme, or contributing to Johannes’s character development?

In what ways is Johannes shaped by The Fight for Freedom? What obstacles does he face in this struggle, and how does he overcome them? How does this theme impact the story’s overall meaning?

What do the protagonist and the supporting characters achieve through The Power of Friendship and Cooperation? In what way is the novel’s understanding of friendship connected to its understanding of heroism?

In what ways is Johannes an unreliable narrator even though he doesn’t intentionally mislead the reader? How does Eggers use other narrative techniques, such as stream of consciousness and breaking the fourth wall, to give his novel a distinctive voice? Cite specific examples from the text to support your argument.

What does the sun symbolize in Eggers’s story? How do Johannes’s beliefs about the sun illustrate his optimism about the world, and how do they sustain him in moments of difficulty?

Eggers uses running throughout his novel as a motif of the fight for freedom. What kinds of freedom does running grant Johannes and how does the connection he feels between running and freedom influence his final decision to leave home?

How does Johannes’s understanding of himself and his place in the world evolve over the course of the story? How does Eggers demonstrate Johannes’s journey to self-acceptance in the novel’s resolution?