Gray After Dark

Explore the use of foreshadowing in the opening chapters of Gray After Dark. How do they hint at the events to come? What impact does this literary technique have on the reader?

Examine how Ihli creates suspense in her survival thriller. What literary techniques and tropes does she use, and how do they enhance the reader’s engagement with the story? In what way does the author subvert readers’ expectations of the genre?

Analyze the role of power dynamics in Gray After Dark. How do the characters use, resist, or submit to power?

Trace and analyze Ihli’s use of the biathlon motif throughout the novel. How does this imagery contribute to the novel’s character development and thematic depth?

Discuss the interplay between vulnerability and resilience in the novel’s protagonists.

In the novel, how do trauma and loss affect survival? Analyze how Miley and Mary cope with loss and trauma and how these experiences shape their actions and identities.

Examine how Gray After Dark addresses the concept of hope in dire circumstances. Describe how the characters find or maintain hope. How does this influence their choices and endurance?

Ihli dedicates her book to “the spirit of survivors everywhere” (344). Discuss and analyze the author’s portrayal of different types of “survivors” in the novel. To what extent can Gray After Dark be interpreted as a critique of the survivalist ideal in American culture?