A good way to focus any interpretation of literature is to build your argument around your view of the work's main theme or themes. That is, what, in the largest sense, is Rule of the Bone about? Mentoring? Parent-child relationships? Coming-of-age in America in the 90s? Father figures? The meaning of "community"? The meaning of "education"? The meaning of religion? The meaning of nonconformity in America? What view of race or gender emerges in the book? What primary effect on its readers does the book ultimately seem to have? For your interpretation of the novel, you might pick one of these topics/themes/issues and analyze how it plays out in the course of the story. In other words, consider what questions are raised in the book about your chosen theme, and then consider how those questions seem to be answered by the end or by the story as a whole.
Fathers & Mentors
Gender issues in the novel. This is a rather male book—most of the main characters are male, and the author of course is male. What kinds of "manhood" or "masculinity" seem to be represented in this story? In what ways is Chappie traditionally "masculine" and how, in some ways, might he be "feminine"? How would Bone's story likely have been different if he had been female? Can you think of similar novels about young women coming of age? What do you make of the women in the book? Does this book ultimately undermine or promote gender stereotypes?
Literacy issues in the novel. Would you describe Chappie as educated or uneducated? Literate or illiterate? What are the many different types of literacy now being recognized by theorists and educators? What effect does dropping out of high school have on Bone's life? What kind of "education" does he receive from I-Man? How "educated" or "literate" is he by the end? Do you personally know anyone like Chappie? Assess the role of learning in the story, and develop some interesting central claim about education or literacy in relation to it.
Conformity/nonconformity issues in the novel. Reflect a bit on individuals you know who in some way don't fit well into conventional society. Recall friends, relatives, prominent town characters, unknown recluses—anyone on the "fringe." Perhaps you've known some alienated, displaced individual comparable to Chappie in Rule of the Bone, someone who doesn't belong, moving from one unsuccessful "family" to the another, and finally carving out an unconventional niche all their own. Perhaps a group of your high school friends were considered marginal or exotic, or maybe you've encountered (or even joined) some unorthodox formal organization. You might think here of religious sects such as the Amish, the fictional biker group Adirondack Iron, or even the little family out in the landfill bus in the novel. Consider also: educated drop-outs, people on personal quests, anyone you might think of as "strangers in their own land." When is nonconformity justified, and when not? How easy is it in America (the land of the free, the sanctuary of individual liberty) to stand apart? Are we "behaving like insects"? Why do we sometimes treat people who are different with hostility? What is the psychology and sociology of cliques and clubs? Of exclusion and inclusion? How are nonconformists regarded and treated in your own community? And how might this issue be particularly relevant to college students?
Consider how the topics of conformity, alienation, and difference play out in Rule of the Bone. What does Russell Banks seem to be saying about difference in America? How is this book shaping, or being shaped by, our cultural attitudes and beliefs about those who are different? How is Chappie different? [won't go to school; won't "consume" in terms of products or fashion; seeks out alternate families; seeks out alternate livelihood; learns nonstandard religion; becomes student of highly unconventional teacher]
Family issues in the novel. What view of contemporary family relationships emerges in this story? What is an ideal father, how many father figures do you find in the book, how do they compare to each other, and what is Chappie's status as a "son" by the end? Other topics: stepparent-stepchild relationships; child abuse in families; children of alcholic parents; alternative or nonbiological families; the generation gap; grandparent-grandchild relationships; dysfunction in families; parenting styles; parents as "leaders"; etc.
The coming-of-age genre. What other novels have you read about a young American male coming of age? How does Rule of the Bone compare to those other renderings of the theme? The transition from childhood to adulthood is important in any culture; how, in America, at the turn of the millenium, do we make such a transition? How do we help or hinder our children? Do our children have a "catcher in the rye"? What official or unofficial rituals mark the passage? What does Rule of the Bone seem to be saying about that passage?
Bone’s relationship to society. What is Bone's central problem? Is that problem resolved? How would you characterize his relationship to the world, his community, other people? Is he a microcosm of his society? Would you say that he's "better" or "worse" than that society? How does that society view him? How, if at all, does he change and develop as the story proceeds? What motivates him? What does he want? In what ways are his actions and choices justified, and in what ways not? What is his view of himself, and how, if at all, does it change? To what extent are his choices self-chosen, and to what extent are they forced on him by his community?