Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus
Week 5: Madeline and the Question of Education
Read the chapters focusing on Madeline's school years, her intellectual gifts, and Elizabeth's battles with the educational system on her behalf.
Previewing Week 5 of Lessons in Chemistry
Read 3 of 7 discussion questions below. Unlock the complete 12-week guide when you’re ready.
Like mother, like daughter — Madeline refuses to fit neatly into the spaces others have designed for her, and watching Elizabeth fight for her daughter's mind is one of the novel's great pleasures. This week we follow that fight.
Discussion Questions
7 questions1.Madeline is portrayed as precociously gifted in ways that mirror both her parents. Which qualities feel distinctly like Elizabeth's inheritance, which feel like Calvin's, and which seem entirely her own?
2.The school system's response to Madeline's abilities — attempting to slow her down, to normalize her, to make her fit — echoes what Hastings did to Elizabeth. How does the parallel land for you? Does it feel too neat, or does the repetition make a point the novel needs to make twice?
3.Elizabeth's approach to parenting is, like her approach to everything else, rigorous and unconventional. What does she get right, and where does the novel suggest she may be too rigid or too focused on her own framework?