Breaking Stalin's Nose

What significance does the motif of the nose play in the story and in the larger themes of the novel?

How do the actions of Moscow State Security officers at the elementary school in the novel advance Stalinism? Compare and contrast the effect of these actions on individuals versus the general population.

Explain the ironies described in the state of the shared apartment and what this use of irony says about communism under Stalin as well as the population’s ability to either comprehend or articulate their lived reality in the context of the political structure.

What dualities does the novel suggest about Soviet society under Stalin when Sasha’s father, a well-respected State Security officer who had formerly met Stalin, is arrested as a spy?

Sasha’s father reported his wife as a spy, which resulted in her death. What prevents Sasha’s acceptance of this truth, even though the facts about his mother’s sudden death align? What messages could this example suggest about the nature of loyalty in the society of the novel?

There are violently self-serving and evil characters in the novel, as well as kind-hearted characters who offer Sasha hope and redemption. Compare and contrast what the novel suggests about human nature in terms of power and compassion.

Eugene Yelchin’s childhood in the 1960s resembles aspects of Sasha’s life set in Moscow many years prior. What does the author’s choice of setting during Stalin’s rule rather than in the years after his death, when the author was raised in the USSR, suggest about these similarities over time?

Compare and contrast the portrayals through the illustrations throughout the novel of the young characters and the adults. What do the illustrations add to the story, and in what ways do these illustrations build on the narrative and subtext in the novel?