Not to go all parental on you, but it's time to ask some heavy-hitting questions: what do you want to do with your life? What's the purpose of life? If you're in high school, chances are your parents are always bugging you about which college you want to go to, or what major you want to take. It's the norm for us to think about these things when we get to those teenage years, and Colin and Hassan are plagued by these questions too in An Abundance of Katherines. And in true young adult novel form, they come up with different answers to these questions. Colin wants to study, study, study, while Hassan is happy watching TV and doing nothing. The thing is though, both of them start to reconsider their life's goals and path over the course of the novel (if you haven't checked out the "Genre" section, now might be a good time to do so).
Questions About Life, Consciousness, and Existence
- Why are Colin and Hassan constantly at odds about how to live? Whose life philosophy do you agree with more? Why?
- How does Colin's childhood as a prodigy influence his ideas about what it means to exist? Why is mattering so important?
- Colin's dad wants Colin to learn more to reach his potential, and his mom wants him to be normal. Which path does Colin chose? Does this change over the course of the novel?
Chew on This
Colin's dad puts too much pressure on his son to live a certain way, which drives Colin over the edge.
All Colin cares about is becoming a genius. It doesn't matter if he does anything else in life.