Fr 139 Exile and Identity
Question

"Chocolat" by Claire Denis (1988)

1.  Why do you think France has come back to Cameroon?

2.  Describe the young France's relationship to Protée, the house boy.

3.  Describe the relationship between Aimée and Protée. 

4.  What is the role of Luc in the story?  Why does Luc provoke Protée?

5.  Why do you think Protée lets France burn her hand on the generator?

6.  What is the role of Mungo, a.k.a. William J. Park in the story?


Assia Djebar, "There is No Exile" (1959)

1.  Why would the narrator's family be in exile from Algeria in 1959?

2.  What two unrelated events seem to confirm for the narrator that that day "has an evil smell"? 

3.  Why is the narrator so affected by the death next door?

4.  Why does she not want to get married?

5.  What does the phrase "There is no exile" mean for the narrator at the end?