Essay Questions

Is James Piper suffering from psychological health problems?

James is the main character in the Fall On Your Knees by Ann-Marie MacDonald. Throughout the novel, the reader can see that James has psychological issues because he is sexually attracted to young girls. Firstly, he impregnates Materia when she is only sixteen years old. Making it more unbelievable, he later falls in love with his eldest daughter. The sexual feelings towards his daughter makes him feel embarrassed. His wife notes this and James decides to move away from home to isolate himself. When he returns home after some time, he still feels the same feelings towards his daughter, and this time round he is forced to ask her to leave. James is not ready to accept that he has a mental issue because he is trying to fight with his high appetite for sex for young girls. It is even sickening that he feels sexually attracted to his daughter.

What does the marriage between James Piper and Materia symbolize?

The initial major concern for the reader is that Materia is getting married at an early age of 13 years old. However, as the reader continues to read, he discovers that Materia's marriage symbolizes the marriage barriers between cultures. Materia comes from a conventional Lebanese culture and James is from a Christian background. There is a conflict between Christians and Muslims when it comes to marriage because both confess different religious faiths and believes. Materia's parents are against her marriage because she is getting married to a non-Muslim. Therefore, the young age of Materia is not an issue because what they are totally against is the cross-cultural marriage. The opposition of her parents makes her elope with James to get married elsewhere.

Which irony is developed by Ann-Marie MacDonald from Materia’s actions?

When Materia discovers that her husband is having a sexual interest in their first daughter, she decides to give birth to more children to distract her husband's feelings. Ironically, Materia thinks that giving birth to more children will stop her husband's sexual desires towards young girls. The reader expects Materia to address the issue tactfully by either requesting her husband to seek medical help or psychotherapy. She forgets that her husband was also attracted to her when she was only thirteen years old.