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Would you characterize Elsa and Greer as reflections of one another,
or do you consider them to have significantly distinct attitudes and
personalities? How might each woman's storyline have played out in the
other's time period?
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Elsa's devotion to Alice is clear from the novel's first page. Do you
feel that Elsa has a realistic or naive perception of Alice's
disabilities? What does Alice represent to Elsa, besides being a devoted
sister? Why do you suppose it's important for Elsa to maintain an image
of Alice as pure and blameless?
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Elsa's tale ends with a spectacular "what if." Describe your imagined
outcome; were her final years tragic ones, or do you think she found
peace at last?
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Greer possessed keen deductive abilities as a scientist. Why do you
suppose it was so difficult for her to realize her husband's deception?
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Discuss the parallel aspects of the novel's two storylines. In what
ways are both women on a similar quest? In what ways do they both find
themselves strengthened and defeated by Easter Island?
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How did your interpretation of Easter Island's epigraph, "The Legend
of Hotu Matua," shift after you had finished reading the novel?
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Mahina is deeply religious, nurturing, and holding out impossible
hope for a reunion with her husband. In what ways do her traits enrich
the novel? Are her religion and Greer's logic mutually exclusive?
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Both Greer and Elsa find themselves immersed in mostly male worlds.
How are these gender distinctions portrayed in Easter Island?
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For Elsa, the arrival of Max brings both emotional and concrete
consequences. How does your perception of him change throughout the
novel, particularly in light of the letter that comprises one of the
book's opening scenes?
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Both Elsa and Greer faced oppression by social convention. For Elsa,
British laws might have required her to institutionalize Alice. For
Greer, the role of wife versus lab assistant was difficult to navigate.
Does Easter Island provide the liberation both women are seeking?
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Why is Easter Island such an appropriate setting for these dual
narratives? In what way do its remote, rugged characteristics reflect
that of the novel's main characters? In addition to being a work of
fiction that blends historical and contemporary issues, Easter Island is
also part travelogue. What did you discover during your armchair journey
to this unique environment?
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What are the similarities between Greer's father and Elsa's? What
did each of these men teach their daughters about the world and its
inhabitants?
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What is your opinion of Professor Beazley? What do you believe his
motivation in marrying Elsa was?
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Consider the theme of survival in Easter Island. What is the
significance of Greer's poisonous spider bite? How might Elsa have
"survived" living in England after her life-changing experiences on the
island?
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Greer's paper, appearing in chapter twenty-nine, proposes that the
construction of the moai led to the decline of the island's indigenous
population. In what way does this irony reflect the life experiences of
Elsa and Greer? What were their self-destructive "monuments?
