1A Study Questions for “Peg” 312

1.    What is the irony of the town’s name Prospect on page 312? It is in fact, in spite of its optimistic, abundant connotations, a barren wasteland, a handful of dust where he is perceived as suicidal by Anne Pomerantz; a marriage suffused by a sense of disappointment 314. Generic houses 317.
2.    What does George do to achieve “alignment”? 312
3.    How are George and his wife a fulfilled prophecy of Nietzsche’s Last Man? 313
4.    What is George’s motivation for marriage and why must it result in failure? 313
5.    What evidence suggests an unsavory character profile of George? 313, 314, 315 lives in his head, fantasies of woman at Penny’s Video; 317 he sets a jealousy trap evidencing his immaturity;
6.    What evidence suggests an unsavory character profile of Rita? 314, 317 her passion gone; she despises her husband in a cold, frosty way 318.
7.     How does Chuck embody hedonism? 314, 315
8.    How is George’s marriage more hopeless and depressing than his brother Chuck’s? 315. Perhaps an absence of passion suggests indifference, which is the true antithesis of love.
9.    Who is “Peg”? 318. A sad chimera for a woman who truly loves him.
10.     How does the story take a turn for the worse on page 319 and suggest that George has gone completely crazy?
11.    What do George and the head (a talking head at that) have in common? 324
12.    What, if any, is the story’s theme?