The Salt Eaters

What are the factions, or camps, within the activist groups in the novel? How does the splintering into factions affect the work that these groups take on? How does Bambara use individual characters to represent real-life differences in political/activist ideologies?

What issues related to having a uterus are brought up in the novel? How do they impact and/or complicate the lives of women in the novel? How do they impact Black activism?

Salt is an important motif and symbol throughout the novel. How does the novel include and develop its often paradoxical (contrasting) associations?

How is music used to link different parts of the nonlinear novel? What is this saying about the connectedness of Black voices?

What is the symbolism of the mud mothers that Velma has visions of? How do these visions impact her mental health and strengthen her connection with her community?

What is the symbolic role of Minnie’s shawl, which she places over Velma, in the novel? How does it connect to the novel’s spiritual interests?

How could you compare and contrast Velma’s two different groups of female friends—the bus group and the Women for Action group? What are their roles in Black activism?

The novel includes the thoughts of many different people in Claybourne. How would you compare and contrast the perspectives of different characters? How are they fractured and united?