Essay Questions

Why are the students determined to expel the head of the English Department from college?

The novel Vladimir focuses on sexual predation on campus, which involves male professors and female students. According to female students, males, especially the head of the English Department, sexually harass them. Therefore, students are running a campaign to expel him from college to act as an example to other sexual predators. The reader confronts the callous certainty that male lecturers ask for sex from female students in exchange for better grades.

What is the relationship between Vladimir and the unnamed narrator?

Vladimir is the title character and is newly recruited in the liberal arts college where the unnamed narrator and her husband are working. The unnamed female narrator is an English Professor and the wife of the Head of the English Department. The unnamed narrator finds solace in Vladimir because her husband is a womanizer who does not spend time with her. Therefore, the unnamed narrator and Vladimir slowly develop a romantic relationship behind the back of the narrator's husband.

Why is the narrator unable to confront her husband regarding his sexual immorality with his young students?

The most interesting part of this couple is that they are in an open relationship. Therefore, the narrator cannot question her husband on his sexual choices. Otherwise, each partner in the marriage can quit if necessary. However, the narrator is about 50 years, and she wants to maintain her marriage status. Therefore, she decides to remain quiet and look for sexual satisfaction elsewhere.