The Big Money

After reading the suggested portions, as well as some of the other narratives, of Dos Passos' The Big Money, some of the questions that came up in my mind included the following:

• What is the significance of the Newsreels at the beginning of each narrative, and their lack of time references?
• What is the significance of breaking up the narratives throughout the book, rather than having just one entire section devoted to each character?
• Why does Dos Passos use the characters and portrayals that he does, what about them makes their stories relevant to the Great Depression?

As to some of the topics that I thought may make for good discussion:

• The element of greed throughout each character's narratives, not in the traditional sense of greed for money, but rather in other ways within their lives.
• The ways in which Dos Passos changes elements of his tone and diction from narrative to narrative that is specific to each character.

These are just some of the thoughts that came up as I read through the book. See everyone in class!