Mean Spirit

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1990

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Study Guide

Before You Read Beta

Summary

Background

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Part 1, Pages 3-113

Part 1, Pages 113-203

Part 2, Pages 207-270

Part 2, Pages 270-371

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Tools Beta

Discussion Questions

Essay Topics

Discuss the theme of Greed, Corruption, and Anti-Indigenous Racism. How are the murders of so many innocent members of the Osage community made possible by bias, dehumanization, and racism? Can you see parallels between this story (based on real events) and contemporary examples of systemic anti-Indigenous racism?

How is oil used as a motif within the narrative? Which of the text’s themes does it connect with? How might oil relate to the idea of progress and modernity?

Discuss the characterization of Grace Blanket. What kind of a woman is she and how does she embody the text’s interest in the tension between modernity and tradition?