A seed needs just the right amount of time and the right conditions to ripen into a plant, tree, or flower. It is the same with human beings. Only with us, we are properly nourished and nurtured by the people and the places in our lives that bring out the best that is inside us.

Director Lasse Hallstöm's (My Life as a Dog, Cider House Rules, Chocolat) has created a graceful, sensitive, and morally rich screen adaptation of E. Annie Proulx's 1994 novel by keeping all the bittersweet qualities of this Pulitzer Prize-winning work intact. The screenplay by Robert Nelson Jacobs (Chocolat) presents the transformation of a weak-willed man with low self-esteem into a sensitive father, a caring relative, and a resourceful member of a small community. This character's ripening is a wonder to behold as he moves beyond grief into the adventure of love.

The questions and exercises in this discussion guide are organized around the following themes — the wounds of the heart, soul, place, community, ancestors, facing fear, and loving.

The Shipping News is rated R for some language, sexuality, and disturbing /uploads/features/images. For our review of the film and a plot synopsis, click here.

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1. THE WOUNDS OF OUR HEARTS

"When it seems that we are no longer attractive to others or that no one is interested in us, then we have the impression of being totally useless, pushed aside. Our heart is wounded. There is no peace or joy, just a feeling of emptiness, a great inner void," writes Jean Vanier in Seeing Beyond Depression.

  • What deep wounds in his heart does Quoyle carry with him to Newfoundland? What wounds are borne in the hearts of other characters?
  • What wounds have you carried over the years from childhood hurts, adult disappointments or failures, soured loves or lost dreams?

2. YOU: A HUNDRED UNIVERSES

"When I say the word you, I mean a hundred universes," are two lines of Rumi's poetry in Coleman Barks's The Soul of Rumi.

  • How would you characterize Quoyle's view of himself? What does his daughter Bunny think of him?
  • What pivotal and catalytic experiences in Newfoundland spur Quoyle to a new sense of self-esteem and a feeling of coming into his own?
  • Share some recent experiences in your life that have opened you up to some of the previously unexplored universes in yourself.

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3. SEEING THE PLACE WHERE WE LIVE AS FLESH OF OUR FLESH

In Secrets of the Universe, Scott Russell Sanders writes: "The land is not merely a backdrop for the human play, not merely a source of raw materials, but it is the living skin of the earth. Through this skin we apprehend a being that is alien, a life unfathomable and uncontrollable, and at the same time a being that is kindred, flesh of our flesh. It is a spiritual discipline to root the mind in a particular landscape, to know it not as a visitor with a camera, but as a resident."

  • What incidents in the film show Quoyle coming to know and respect the environment that is the setting for his rebirth? What do you find most appealing about Newfoundland? In what sense is it another character in the drama?
  • What steps have you taken to cherish and love in a more cogent way the place where you live? How can you make seeing it as "flesh of your flesh" into a spiritual discipline?

4. OUR ANCESTORS

"Most of us know the parents or grandparents we come from. But we go back and back forever; we go back all of us to the very beginning; in our blood and bone we carry the memories of thousands of beings. . . . We cannot understand all the traits we have inherited. Sometimes we are strangers to ourselves," V. S. Naipaul, the novelist, is quoted in William Reiser's To Hear God's Word, Listen to the World.

  • Make a list of details Quoyle learns about his ancestors. How does knowing this information affect him?
  • What character traits or personality tics have you inherited from your ancestors? What part have they played in influencing how you see yourself?

5. COMMUNITY

"Community means different things to different people. To some, it is a safe haven where survival is assured through mutual cooperation. To others, it is a place of emotional support with deep sharing and bonding with close friends. Some see community as an intense crucible for personal growth. For others, it is primarily a place to pioneer their dreams," writes Corrine McLaughlin in Creating Community Anywhere.

  • Who are the most interesting characters in Killick-Claw? Which of the elements of community described above is most relevant to the ripening of Quoyle's character?
  • What is the communal meaning of the party given for Beaufield Nutbeem and the wake for Jack Buggit?
  • What community has contributed the most to your ripening as a human being?

6. FACING FEAR

"You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face," Eleanor Roosevelt once stated. "You are able to say to yourself, 'I have lived through this horror, I can take the next thing that comes along!' You must do the thing you think you cannot do."

  • Or as Aunt Agnes says to Quoyle, "We face up to the things we fear because we can't go around them." What fears block the path for Quoyle? Agnes? Bunny? Wavey? Jack Buggit?
  • What spiritual practices have you found most helpful in your attempts to face your fears?

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7. LOVE IS THE BEST WAY

" 'There is only a single magic, a single power, a single salvation, and a single happiness, and that is called loving,' Herman Hesse wrote in a book of his essays called My Beliefs. And I would side with him on that. And there is no better way I know out of yourself, no better way to become yourself, no better way to save yourself than love," Merle Shain writes in Hearts That We Broke Long Ago.

  • What do Quoyle and Wavey have in common? Talk about the ways in which they slowly open up and relate to each other. How does loving lead Quoyle both out of himself and into his true blooming as a person?
  • Share your experiences of loving as a path into your finest and fullest expression of your true self.

This guide is one in a series of more than 200 Values & Visions Guides written by Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat. Text copyright 2001 by Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat. Photos courtesy of Miramax. This guide is posted as a service to visitors to www.SpiritualityandPractice.com. It may not be photocopied, reprinted, or distributed electronically without permission from Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat — except it may be duplicated for use by groups participating in the e-course "Going to the Movies as a Spiritual Practice." For other uses and for a list of guides in the Values & Visions series and ordering information, email your name and mailing address to: brussat@spiritualrx.com.