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Traveling from the highland desert of northern Mexico to the steaming jungles of Honduras, from the seashore of the Caribbean to the exquisite highlands of Guatemala, Mary Morris confronts the realities of place, of poverty, of machismo, and of her own self. As she experiences the rawness and precariousness of life in another culture, Morris begins to hear echoes of her own life and her own sense of deprivation. And she begins, too, to overcome the struggles of the past...
Discussion Questions:
- "How do you know if you are a traveler? What are the telltale signs?…One sure sign of travelers is their relationship to maps." (pg. 22) Are you a traveler? What is your relationship to maps?
- Mary Morris writes "I was merely a tourist, but also I was a gringa, a North American, and the deeper I would travel I Central America, the more aware I would become of who I was and of how people identified me with my country." (pg.146) In light of the war in Iraq and September 11th, is the identification with country affecting your desire to travel? How so?
- Morris writes about sacred places on page 138. Is there a place that holds spiritual power for you? What is that place? What does that place do for your soul/spirit?
- Nothing to Declare is peopled with ghosts, visions, historical, and mythic figures. Should a memoir strictly be reality based? What did Mary gain by these experiences? What do we gain by her inclusion of them?
- Mary receives a letter from her parents while in Honduras. What was your reaction to this? Did you see it through the eyes of the parent or of the child?
- Mary's significant relationships in the story were Lupe and Alejandro. What did each person in the relationship gain? Do you think that Mary had any responsibility to Lupe and her children? What was her responsibility to Alejandro?
- One pg. 164 Morris writes, "Women who travel as I travel are dreamers. Our lives seem to be lives of endless possibility. We forget that this is not our real life…Our life of domestic details, work pressures, attempts and failures at human relations." Do you think that this section belies that American attitude of collecting more and more and more? Have you ever gone on a journey to escape your ordinary life? Was it successful? Do you think that Mary was successful?
Last updated: 04/28/03
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