56 pages • 1 hour read
Bethany HamiltonSoul Surfer
Nonfiction | Autobiography / Memoir | Adult | Published in 2004A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.
Essay Topics
Soul Surfer begins with this statement from its author: “To be honest, I never wanted to write a book” (xiii). What purpose does this statement serve in accomplishing the goal of creating a connection between the author and the reader?
What is the central question of theodicy? How does it relate to Hamilton’s story?
Soul Surfer is written in a conversational tone and with a first-person point of view. Why do you think Hamilton chose to tell her story herself, as a memoir, rather than let someone else relate the story of the shark attack?
Soul Surfer begins with a catalyzing event: the shark attack. However, Chapter 1 also contains several mundane details about Hamilton’s life: how Hawaiians celebrate Halloween, what her parents do in the morning, what she typically eats for breakfast. How do the attack and the mundane details work together? What point is Hamilton making by including the mundane details?
Destiny, which can also be called fate or chance, plays a large role in Hamilton’s life. How does destiny result in Hamilton’s love of surfing? What elements of chance are present in the morning of the shark attack?
Describe Hamilton’s understanding of community as it relates to her definition of aloha. What role does community play in Hamilton’s recovery from the shark attack?
What life lessons does Bethany Hamilton learn from being a competitive athlete? Which members of her family influence Hamilton’s attitude toward sports the most?
As Hamilton’s mother speeds to the hospital after learning of the shark attack on her daughter, she turns on worship music and begins to sing. Why does Hamilton include this detail, and what does it reveal about her mother?
Hamilton meets with a blind psychologist while she is in the hospital and offers to help raise money for a surgery that might restore his sight. The psychologist refuses her help. Why? What does Hamilton take away from this encounter?
