Essay Questions

Do you think Connie is insane, or merely incapable of addressing her anger issues?

The answer to both of these questions is, "Yes" Connie seems to be insane, but she also appears to be angrier than the average person, and doesn't understand her own anger. She certainly seems to be unluckier than average as well, and surrounds herself with people whose behavior is almost guaranteed to make her angry, which is not a good combination. Because Connie doesn't know how to deal with her anger or how to control it, she is very violent

However, even if Connie did not have anger issues and/or violent tendencies, she would still qualify to be what most people would consider "mad". She has an imaginary friend whom she actually sees and hears, leading us to believe that she is schizophrenic. She travels to alternate times and places and manifests a fantasy place where everything is the opposite of how her own life really is. Connie is not treated well by medical staff who don't understand her mental illness and really don't try to.

Did Connie kill the doctors because of her mental illness, or because she is essentially a depraved and psychotic person?

Connie does have mental illness but she is not a diagnosed psychopath or a sociopath. Killing the doctors is more of a desperate measure, a reaction to a situation in which she is entirely powerless. In order to escape the threat of having them basically do whatever they want to her brain, specifically brain surgery, she kills them because she can see no other option. Connie is not generally a killer, but she believes she has no other option than to kill the doctors in order to be free of them. This doesn't excuse her actions but also shows that she is feeling trapped and has no other way to escape.

What does the novel tell you about the author's view of science?

The author views all scientists as "mad scientists"; some good, some bad, some inherently evil, but all imbued with the desire to manipulate the human body and mind. In Piercy's opinion, most scientists are pretty low on morals and ethics. Most of the scientists in the novel want to experiment on people, for example, by conducting experimental surgery on Connie that they have no real knowledge of and no real proof of its effectiveness. By contrast, scientists in the utopian world of Matapoissett create innovations that actually help people and that simplify life's more difficult processes, such as childbirth. Scientists are not shown in a good light in the novel, which seems to reflect a feeling held by the author that is constant in her other novels as well.