45 pages • 1 hour read
Steven RowleyThe Celebrants
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2023A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Essay Topics
Content warning: This section of the guide references suicide and drug overdose.
Steven Rowley employs third-person limited perspective, with the narrative voice switching between the primary characters. To what extent does the tone remain consistent despite these changes in perspective? What elements of different characters’ voices change the tone of each part of the novel?
Music appears throughout The Celebrants: The group listens to and argues about musical taste when they’re together, Naomi has career in music, and they listen to the mariachi band in Mexico together. What is the function of music throughout the novel?
Each of the primary characters in The Celebrants demonstrates growth as a character, and the funeral tends to be a catalyzing event for a change or recreation of their identity. How does Rowley represent the development of secondary characters?
How does Rowley represent the theme of truth as opposed to secrecy? What effect does this have on the narrative and character development?
What techniques does Rowley use in the interplay between comedy and mortality throughout the novel?
Part 4 includes several actual and potential air disasters: Naomi’s parents’ death in a plane crash, a reference to 9/11, and Jordan’s near skydiving accident. How do air accidents relate to the themes of The Celebrants?
Much of the exposition in The Celebrants takes place through dialogue. What is the relationship between dialogue and the structure of the novel?
A favorite saying of Alec’s, “no two people have ever met,” is repeated in the novel. Which character dynamics in the novel illustrate this idea, and how does it contribute to the broader themes of the novel?
What is the significance of the fact that the majority of The Celebrants takes place nearly 30 years after the group members’ graduation?
The reason for Alec’s death remains ambiguous throughout the novel. While characters’ perspectives on the event and the reveal of the detail that Alec had contracted AIDS before his death provide potential insight, Rowley does not confirm whether he died by suicide or an accidental overdose. What narrative effect does this ambiguity produce?
Related Titles
By Steven Rowley
