The story begins with Kaplan meeting Goren, who is framed as a serious, skeptical person. What evidence in the text shows Goren as skeptical? What evidence shows that Goren is not a skeptic by the end of the novel? Why is this transition significant to the message of the novel?

Who is the main audience of the The Harbinger, and how does the book structure its rhetoric and content to appeal to this audience?

What are the prophet’s political and religious motives for linking ancient Assyria to modern Iraq?