Olive Kitteridge

Olive Kitteridge is the titular character, but she is not the central character in most of the stories. In the stories in which she is not the main character, how is Olive’s presence and influence nonetheless felt? How do these stories still help to develop Olive’s character?

The author, Elizabeth Strout, often uses symbols to communicate her characters’ internal worlds and to foreshadow upcoming events. Choose one story and a single symbol within that story to analyze deeply. How do the characters’ interactions with this symbol change, and what does that suggest about the characters? Options might include Jane Houlton’s coat in “Winter Concert” or Olive’s stockings in “Security.”

Given that Crosby is beside the sea, water imagery is an important motif throughout the novel. Identify three instances of imagery related to the sea or to water more generally. What does this motif add to these scenes? How does it augment expression of the character’s internal worlds?