In "The Double"'s first half, what is our opinion of Golyadkin?
Why does Golyadkin hire the carriage and ride around town?
Why does he hide when he sees his superior?
What is his response to seeing two colleagues during his ride?
Why is he not welcome at Olsufy Ivanovich's house?
What are some striking features of his visit with the doctor?
Is his double's appearance supernatural?
At this stage, does the narrative encourage us to believe that the double is real or imagined by Golyadkin?
What is the narrative point of view (is it omnicient? Is it first person? Is it "skaz"? Is it limited in any interesting ways?)
Find several places (five or six) where the narrative perspective can be pinpointed and defined specifically.
Find several places that seem to indicate the double's real or imaginary status.
How should we interpret Petrushka's comment that "Nice people don't have doubles"?
Why does Golyadkin Jr. mock Golyadkin Sr.?
What is the significance of Golyadkin's claim that he does not where a mask?
How do you interpret the various letters Golyadkin sends and receives?
Name some strange things about the letters.
What is important about the "German woman", Karolina Ivanovna?
What are the give-away elements of the letter from Klara Olsufyevna?
What are some striking features of G's last conversation with Petrushka?
List the important components of the scene showing G at Olsufy's house, near the end?
Why do characters around Golyadkin seem continually to recognize and interact with his "double"?
Which elements of this novel seem most clearly drawn from Gogol's stories?
Assuming that Golyadkin Jr. is G's hallucination, what does the story hint might have caused his break with reality? (More than one possible answer here).
Having finished the novel, how would you describe its narrator?
What do you think was Dostoevsky's goal in using a narrator of this type in this way?
Can you think of any other works in which the narrator is similarly hard to pin down?
What are the advantages and disadvantages of this kind of narration?