The Candy House Essay Questions

What is the significance of the novel's title?

The term "candy house" first appears in Lana and Melora's chapter. They talk about how they want to start an ad campaign in which they warn people against using music file-sharing services. They compare it to a hypothetical "candy house" as they believe it is clearly a bad bargain in which users are trading their digital privacy for free music. The stakes of this idea are elevated in later chapters when people begin giving up their right to have private thoughts and memories, in order to experience the memories of others. In this way, the novel's title signifies the increasingly steep trade-offs people make with technology throughout the book.

Why is Lulu's chapter written in the second person?

Lulu's chapter is written in the second person for two reasons. The first is that she filters all of her thoughts through an instructional lens, in order to improve her ability to carry out her mission. The second is that, also to effectively see her mission through, she periodically disassociates from herself to stave off psychological wounds. As a result, the chapter reads as though these things are all happening to someone who Lulu is observing, but is not actually her.

What is the effect of the novel's lack of a central protagonist?

The novel is made up of a series of linked short stories written in a variety of styles. As a result, it lacks a main protagonist. While certain characters, like Bix, Miranda, and Chris, have a major impact on the world of the novel as a whole, it doesn't elevate their perspective above the other characters. The effect of this shifting between styles and points of view is to show how the characters intersect in unexpected ways and how moments are perceived very differently by the people who witnessed them. For instance, Chris sees himself as a perpetual sidekick, but in Molly's chapter she describes how admired he was when they were kids. Egan jumps around between this large cast of characters to show the unexpected ripples that people have in each other's lives.

Why is the chapter "The Mystery of Our Mother" written in first person plural?

This chapter is written in the first person plural to emphasize the bond between Lana and Melora. By showing their shared certain feelings and perceptions, the novel reveals the almost telepathic connection that they had. It presents them as a united front, as they manage to find strength in their relationship and gradually manage more and more of their father's empire. It also works to make the final section all the more emotionally resonant, as Melora reveals that they are no longer close and that Lana joined their mother and the other eluders. This switch to first-person singular ("I") effectively signifies the rupture in their relationship.

What does the company Mondrian try to protect and why?

Mondrian is trying to protect people's right to privacy. They help people use "proxies," designed by fiction writers, to replicate the patterns of their digital presence in order to evade Mandala's invasive data collection. Mondrian's work is based upon the efforts of people like Chris and Miranda to resist Mandala's destruction of privacy. They believe that Mandala's tracking of people's information, and access to all of their individual thoughts and memories, is deeply harmful to society, and they try to restore people's ability to have a measure of privacy.