Carry On: The Rise and Fall of Simon Snow

How do the novel’s first-person narrators shape the reader’s understanding of the protagonist and supporting characters? How does Rowell use multiple narrators and scene shifts to build suspense?

Simon and Baz start the novel as enemies but later become allies and boyfriends. How do they gain each other’s trust? How do they change one another? How does Simon and Baz’s evolving relationship develop the theme of Fate Versus Free Will and impact the novel’s overall meaning?

Throughout the novel, fire is used as a motif that supports the theme of The Purpose of Power. In various scenes, fire is alternately dangerous and helpful. How do the motif’s appearances illuminate the author’s thoughts on power?