Pale Fire is a 1962 novel by Vladimir Nabokov It is set in the fictional town of New Wye, an American college town, home to an aging poet and scholar, John Shade. Shade's poem of the same name makes up one half of the book, with its editor and commentator, Charles Kinbote, providing the other half. The work is written in a combination of verse and prose, with Kinbote forming part of the narrative.
Five potential essay topics related to Pale Fire:
1. Analyze how the various narrators of Pale Fire contribute to the overall meaning and structure of the novel.
2. Investigate the relationship between John Shade and Charles Kinbote in Pale Fire.
3. Examine the ways in which Pale Fire utilizes symbolism and metaphor to explore themes of identity and mortality.
4. Compare and contrast the different interpretations of John Shade’s poem, “Pale Fire”.
5. Analyze the role of the American college town in Pale Fire as a metaphor for society.