1. Casey’s response to the fight in the parking lot was clearly unsatisfactory, both in a moral and a practical sense. What should Casey have done during the fight? What would have been the repercussions of such action?

2. There is some ambiguity concerning which of Colin’s acts of cruelty finally prompted Jenny to seek revenge on him. What do you think this “last straw” was, or do you think it is left to the reader’s imagination?

3. At the end of the novel, Lea wants to tell Jenny “Colin is better this way.” Why does Lea believe this (if she does), and at what point in the novel does she decide that the damaged Colin is better than the original one?

4. Class conflict plays a role in the novel, yet the Breed’s Township elite are hesitant to cast blame on the underclass for Colin’s injury. To what extent can the incident be blamed on class issues? How and where does the novel implicate the attitudes of either or both of Breed’s Township’s social classes?

5. Rachel is shown to be highly critical of Casey’s behavior during the fight, in spite of the fact that she herself has been involved in scandalous and morally dubious behavior in the past. What does Rachel see as the primary difference between her and Casey’s past offenses?

6. Much of Casey’s behavior seems to stem from a love of order, precision, and conformity, a love that is exemplified in the concept of the chain restaurant. How and where does the novel imply that certain aspects of this mentality can lead to a failure of morality?

7. Does the epilogue present a happy ending for one or both of the characters? In particular, how does the epilogue present either a sense of hope or a sense of gloom about Casey’s situation and his future?

8. Should Casey have been legally liable for the damage that was inflicted on Colin Chase? What sort of case might have been presented by a defense attorney–or a prosecutor–if he had been brought up on charges?

9. The epigraph for the second part quotes St. Thomas Aquinas, who claimed that sins of commission are generally the worst kind, but that some specific sins of omission are worse than “active sinning.” Under what circumstances might a sin of omission be worse than a sin of commission, and does Casey’s sin of omission fulfill these requirements?

10. Is Colin Chase pathologically malicious, or is he a somewhat common example of a mean, selfish teenage boy? To what extent are Lea and Geoffrey to blame for Colin’s wickedness?