The Last Straw — Chapter 1

Narration Prompt

Summarize the book's narrative arc, then identify the central tension and evaluate whether the author handles it honestly.

Discussion Questions

1. The Last Straw presents a father who cannot see his son clearly and a son who cannot see himself clearly. Neither character possesses the self-knowledge necessary to resolve their conflict. Is Kinney arguing that self-knowledge is simply rare, that it develops only with age, or that certain relationships — particularly parent-child — are structurally resistant to it? What would each position imply?
2. Compare the father-son dynamic in The Last Straw with another literary treatment you find compelling — Loman/Biff, Abraham/Isaac, Telemachus/Odysseus. What does Kinney's comic treatment of this archetypal conflict reveal that tragic or epic treatments cannot, and what does it obscure?

+ 2 more questions in the complete study guide