Challenge 98

On the Way Down

Made It Way Up has been with us for more than two months now and will conclude in issue 99. As a farewell salute, Challenges 98 and 99 will be devoted to Ian Donnell Arbuckle’s extraordinary novel.

First, some general questions:

Lane’s name appears only once as a chapter title, and yet Lane seems to have held Bernard, Essa and Kelly together; after he dies, the family falls apart. How does Lane play the role of unifier?
What are the internal conflicts in the characters of Bernard, Essa and Kelly?
As the old saying goes, “A picture is worth a thousand words.” Why should that be so? Simple. Because it takes a thousand words to explain what a picture means. In Made It Way Up, how does the author give us both picture and meaning at the same time? How does he show us emotions rather than simply report them?

And now for some consideration of detail:

Why does it seem important that Lane dies in the rocket rather than in some other way?
Doesn’t it seem rather curious that two men of doubtful means would build a spaceship in a farmyard? What is the meaning of the rocketship in the context of the story?
What is the effect of the author’s intertwining Bernard’s dialogue and thought in part 22?
At the end of part 23, Kelly feels, “Every piece of me was moving angry.” Why is she angry? And why do you think she phrases it the way she does?
How should we read Kelly’s account of her emotions: as actual thoughts or as interpretations? How does the author keep the reader aware that in the midst of Kelly’s emotions she is still a little girl?