-
Discuss the reliability of Al
Manheim as a narrator. Can we take his
descriptions of Sammy's activities as accurate, unbiased reporting?
-
Schulberg uses a new pair of shoes
as a metaphor for Sammy's rising
success. What other symbols of success are used in the book?
-
Contrast the various personalities
of the women in Sammy's life -
Rosalie Goldbaum, Sally Ann Joyce, Kit Sargent, Ruth Mintz and Laurette
Harrington.
-
Discuss Al Manheim's statement:
"I didn't know whether to be painfully
jealous of Sammy Glick or congratulate myself on not being like him.
I'm
afraid I did both."
-
Discuss the formation of the
Screenwriters Guild as detailed in
Schulberg's novel and the later problems faced by both
"friendly" and
"unfriendly" witnesses before the House Un-American Activities
Committee.
-
Is there any one answer to the
question, what makes Sammy run? Discuss
the many meanings of the title.
-
To avoid accusations of anti-Semitism, Schulberg
surrounded Sammy with
Jewish characters from all walks of life. Did he succeed in his
aim?
-
Discuss Schulberg's use of multiple narrators.
Can we trust their
account of events or is Al still controlling what we read?
-
Compare Schulberg's portrait of Sammy Glick
alone in his giant Hollywood
mansion with F. Scott Fitzgerald's description of Jay Gatsby in his Long
Island home. (For a fictionalized portrait of Schulberg's personal
and
business relationship with Fitzgerald, read Schulberg's novel, The
Disenchanted.)
-
Kit Sargent is a fictional substitute for such
actual women
screenwriters as Dorothy Parker, Anita Loos, June Mathis and Frances
Marion
(the first Vice President of the Writers Guild), many of whom earned
more than their male counterparts. Compare the careers of women writers
today
with these early pioneers in the film industry.