Magda and the Great Virtues

1. What does Hallie mean when he says on p. 23: "Only the stars are neutral"?

2. When Hallie sat down in his chair, depressed and nearly suicidal, on that April evening "without a shred of hope," what did he think was the only way of prevailing over "the besetting need in manunkind to smash the weak"?  (Note: "Manunkind" is an ironic twist on the term "mankind" – because, you see, we're not always so "kind"; it's a term Hallie borrowed from the poet e. e. cummings.)

3. What story did Hallie read that night that make tears run down his cheeks?  Why did it make him weep?

4. What was Hallie's attitude for most of his life toward nonviolent people?  Why did he dislike them?

5. According to Hallie, most ethical theories have both negative rules and positive rules.  What are examples of the first and of the second.  What important things is true of the yes ethic that is not always true of the no ethic?
 
6. Once he began to read about the actions in the little village of Le Chambon, Hallie also recalled his mother's sabbath prayers.  What was the mystery that she drew him into?

7. What, according to Hallie, does "goodness" have "something to do with"?

8. At a certain point, Hallie said to himself, "Why fight spring?"  What did that mean?  He then recalled these lines by one of his favorite poets, the Jesuit priest Gerard Manley Hopkins:

My own heart let me more have pity on; let
Me live to my sad self hereafter kind,
Charitable; not live this tormented mind
With this tormented mind tormenting yet.

What is the meaning of this verse, and how does it apply to Hallie's situation?

9. Hallie went to interview Magda Trocmé to find out about why the events happened in the little village of Le Chambon.  What dominated her stories?

10. When Hallie says to Magda at one point, "But you are good people, good," what was her reaction and why?

11. What did Associate Pastor Edouard Theis say when Hallie once asked him: "Pastor Theis, didn't you ever hate these Germans for what they were doing to the parents of these children?"

12. What was written above the main entrance to the church of Le Chambon?

13. According to Hallie, Pastor Trocmé's sermons inspired the people of the village to follow in the footsteps of whom?  What did that mean for them?

14. When Edouard Theis put all the money in his pocket into the alms box, and Hallie asked him, somewhat impulsively, "But Monsieur Theis, all that money you gave – where is it going?  How will you do without it?", what was the response?

15. What seemed to be the motto of that very short French woman by the name of Gabrielle Barruad?

16. What was Magda Trocmé's usual greeting to new refugees whom she suddenly found standing in terror and hunger outside the door of the presbytery (which is the house for the pastor of the church)?  How long did such people stay with the Trocmé's?

17.  What does Hallie say about "habit"?  What was the "habit" – the "iron axiom" – of the villagers in Le Chambon?  Why are such "habits" important?

18. Are such "habits" by definition inborn?  What does the term "second nature" mean?

19. According to Hallie, what are (using a term from Italian novelist and essayist Natalia Ginzburg) the "great virtues"?  What are the "little virtues" (piccole virtu)?  What do we spend more time teaching our children about?  Indeed, how do you have to teach "the great virtues"?

20. On p. 40 in his text, Hallie makes the following comment: "If all we do for our children is pound into their heads reasons for protecting their own hides, their second nature will be as wide as the confines of their own self-seeking skins.  One's life is usually about as wide as one's love.  But if we make the often-impractical great virtues part of their lives, their second nature will be as wide as their love."  Do you believe that "one's life is about as wide as one's love"?  What evidence do you have for it?  What evidence do you have against it?  Would you be willing to make it an "iron axiom" of your life?  How would you even begin to do that?  On p. 45, Hallie says about helping others: "You are not the center; the helped person is."  Are you willing to do that?

21. Consider this:  Where was the Kingdom of God more clearly manifested during the Second World War -- in the village of Le Chambon sur Lignon in the Haute Loire district of France?  Or among the German doctors who worked for the Third Reich in Germany?  Explain your choice in terms of the characteristics, as you understand them, of the Kingdom of God.

23. Describe the ways in which Magda and the villagers would have needed each of the four cardinal virtues.  Were any of the Commandments important?  How about the virtues of faith, hope, and love?