How might Barbie represent the “everyman” character? How does his relationship with the town—his reasons for coming in the first place, his desires to leave, his changing role throughout the crisis—reflect the ways that the average citizen might related to their “hometown” or even “home country”?

How do Big Jim Rennie’s evangelical beliefs collide with, or perhaps even justify, his illegal activities? Do you think his motivations are a comment on human nature, on religion, both, or on something else?

Do you think that Junior Rennie is more like or more different from his father? How? Does either character warrant sympathy from the reader? Why or why not?