Victorian+or+past+values+vs.+modernity


 * __A Murder is Announced__ Theme of Past vs. Present **

In __A Murder is Announced__, the conflict between the values and practices of the Victorian era and the modern one is pretty clear, most visible in the nostalgia some characters feel, like Miss Blacklock, and the overwhelming sense of change around the town. Letitia Blacklock, known for her not-so-soft manner has one weakness: her nostalgia for her Victorian youth. Her entire house is furnished with items of a bygone era, flooded with florals and velvet, and she maintains a friendship with Dora Bunner, despite their HUGE differences, as a tribute to her past. This novel chronicles, in a sense, the evolution of a small, close knit village of yore into a modern town with little sense of community. Pre-crime, while townspeople can still stop by casually at each others houses and enter without invitation, with the entrance of immigrants and other "outsiders" the typical closeness of the community is fading away. Murder is the town's inauguration into the modern age.


 * Questions About Past vs. Present **
 * 1) How does nostalgia impact the way characters interact with one another?
 * 2) In what ways is/will the town shaped by this crime?
 * 3) Can people maintain community ties similar to those seen in the book in a modern world?

Discuss as a group how past and present values are visible in the evolution of communities.
 * Consider This **

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