52 pages • 1 hour read
Emiko JeanThe Return of Ellie Black
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2024A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Essay Topics
How does Ellie transform as a character throughout the novel? In what ways is she different at the beginning of the novel than by the end? Does she show similar character traits throughout the novel? Provide textual support.
What is the significance of Ellie and Willa’s relationship? How does their relationship inform Ellie’s understanding of home?
Compare and contrast Ellie and Lydia. How do they handle captivity differently? Why did Lydia take West’s side rather than trying to escape? Does Ellie fear that she will become like Lydia? Provide specific examples.
How are identity and trauma interlinked throughout Chelsey’s life? Consider her career choice, her relationship with Noah, and her interactions with Ellie.
What is the significance of Ellie labelling Lydia’s possessions as “freedom”? How does this echo and subvert West’s naming schema for his victims?
How does the text view systemic misogyny? Does the text offer any argument on where systemic misogyny springs from, or how it should be confronted?
What does West’s tendency to kidnap people from “troubled” families suggest about the justice system? What critiques of the justice system as a whole are present in the text? Does the novel suggest that people like Chelsey are a solution to these systemic issues?
How does identity itself become a point of contention within patriarchy in the novel? How does the novel link understanding one’s identity to autonomy?
How does the novel frame the concept of guilt? Is the guilt the characters feel ever productive? How does guilt fit into the hierarchy of patriarchy present in the novel?
Compare Lydia’s home environment with the “home” environment of the women and girls West kidnaps. What parallels, if any, are there between the home she was raised in and the “home” West has constructed to manipulate her?
