Tea or coffee? Short sleeves or long? Freeway or side streets? Every day, we all make hundred of choices. Most of them aren't even that hard to make—we always go for coffee—but sometimes a choice comes up that changes the course of your life forever. Whether to have a baby is definitely one of those. In Slam,when Alicia gets pregnant, the first thing everyone focuses on is her choices. Will she keep the baby? Does she want to raise it herself? Will Sam be involved?
If we zoom out a little bit, though, we can see that decisions started long before she peed on a stick. Even the choice to go all the way without protection is a big deal. In a lot of ways, the book shows us a snapshot of what happens as the result of one choice.
Questions About Choices
- Does Sam really have choices after he finds out Alicia is pregnant? How are his choices impacted by the ones Alicia is making, too? What does this reveal about the nature of choice?
- Sam chooses to run away to Hastings to avoid the blowback after the pregnancy. What does this choice reveal about him? What does this choice reveal to him? How do his mom and Alicia react to it?
- Why do you think Sam chooses to move in with Alicia after Rufus is born? Why does Alicia give the baby Sam's last name? What do these say about their relationship?
- Do you agree with Sam's choices? Why or why not?
Chew on This
Slam shows that one bad decision can drastically change your life forever.
Sam and Alicia don't seal their fate when they choose to sleep together; they still have plenty of choices to make.