Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story

Ben Carson grew up in a single-parent home. Given his description of his father and the challenges Carson faced as a teen, how might his life have been different if his father had managed to keep his secret and been present through Ben’s preteen and teen years?

The word “God” appears one hundred-four times in the book. How does Ben’s faith impact his life, his relationships, and his choices?

Carson faced academic failure, moral failure, and financial failure, but survived. How much of his success was due to his unshakeable belief in his own abilities and how much to his faith in God? What other factors contributed to his ability to overcome these problems?

Consider the collection of cases Carson describes in chapters 14 through 19. In addition to working very long hours, Carson’s cases took him into people’s lives to share their worst, most desperate moments, and yet, often he was left without the knowledge of how the lives of his patients and their families ultimately turned out as a result of his care. How does this element of Carson’s work set it apart from other types of work?

Carson has several mentors over the course of the book. Identify the individuals who stepped into his life when he needed guidance and how each of them helped his journey.

It could be argued that the seeds of THINK BIG were sown by Sonya Carson in the way she brings up her sons. Elaborate on the similarities between Sonya’s approach to parenting and Ben and Candy Carson’s design for encouraging teens to reach their full potential.

Racial prejudice was the typical experience of a Black American born in the 1950s. How did Carson’s treatment of prejudice fulfill or overturn your expectations of what he would experience? What other kinds of prejudice does he discuss? Which kind of prejudice affected him most deeply?

Candy Carson’s Introduction is an alternate version of information presented in chapter 19. Compare and contrast the two versions. What are the effects of positioning of some of the information in chapter 19 at the front of the book?