Moloka'i

The novel focuses on technological and/or medical “progress” as Hawaii moves from kingdom to territory to, eventually, American state. How do the native Hawaiians and the novel itself respond to this “progress”?

Regret and grief loom large as concepts that drive the plot of Moloka’i. How does Brennert balance these emotions with the historical facts of the Moloka’i settlement?

Hawai’i itself seems a character in the novel—how does Brennert personify the islands?

How do Hansen’s disease and the efforts taken to quarantine people with it reflect the effects of colonialism?

Throughout the novel, Christianity and native Hawaiian beliefs clash—how do the characters navigate this conflict, from Rachel and Dorothy to Haleola and Sister Catherine?

How do family bonds work in the novel? How do they survive and fail in the face of stigma and shame?

How do historical events, from the overthrow of the Hawaiian monarchy to World War II, influence the day-to-day life for Moloka’i’s inhabitants?

Rachel and her daughter, Ruth, both experience quarantine and exile in their own countries—how is Moloka’i different from and similar to the Japanese concentration camps in America?