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Always Outnumbered, Always Outgunned by Walter Mosely Discussion Questions 1. How did you feel about Darryl's two crimes in "Crimson Shadow" (killing the rooster and killing the boy)? Did Socrates' responses seem right to you? What do you think Darryl learns from their first encounter? Is it what Socrates meant for him to learn? 2. In Always Outnumbered, Always Outgunned, many questions are raised—and some are answered—over meals. (Think of Darryl and Socrates eating the rooster, Socrates deciding to pay for all four meals at Iula's, the Minettes having Socrates over to eat, and Socrates having the Shakurs over to give them the table he's rebuilt.) What effect does eating a meal together have on these characters and on what they say to eachother? 3. What is Socrates' relationship to women? How does he feel about Delia in "The Wanderer," Corina in "Man Gone," Iula in "The Thief," or Theresa in "Letter to Theresa"? Why do you think he's still alone? How does Socrates cope with loneliness? 4. Money can confer both pride and shame. What does money do for Socrates in "The Thief"? What about in "The Fire Bug"? What about the money he earns from his supermarket job? 5. In "The Wanderer," Mosley writes that "if anyone tried to put [Socrates] in a cell again he would try his best to kill them." Socrates' namesake, the Greek philosopher, chose to remain in jail even though he knew it meant he would be executed. What might Mosley be saying by giving his Socrates such a different outlook? How does Socrates think about jail in "Black Dog" when he almost has to go back? 6. What does freedom mean to Socrates? How is his understanding different from that of people around him? In "The Wanderer," why does he go to the beach? 7. What is Socrates' philosophy about how people should live and how they should treat each other? Is he able to live up to his own ideals? 8. In "The Lesson" and "Midnight Meeting," how does Socrates teach? Do his lessons make sense to his listeners? Do you think Socrates' philosophy fits the world he and his friends live in? 9. In "History," what does the Capricorn bookstore mean to Socrates? What does Socrates want to know? What can he learn from the people who come together at the Capricorn? 10. What does Socrates think about the riots in Watts? About his neighborhood in general? Why does he drive Petis out of Petis's house in "Midnight Meeting"? Why does he turn in the arsonist in "Fire Bug"? Do these seem like the right choices to you? What about the lesson he gives Darryl in "Marvane Street"? 11. Socrates has a wide range of friends, from Darryl, to the high school quarterback at the supermarket, to Iula, Right, even Bruno, the black dog. What do you think friendship means to Socrates? Does he feel he has to prove himself in his friendships because of his past? 12. In almost every story in Always Outnumbered, Always Outgunned there is a violent encounter. Sometimes it seems as if Socrates couldn't get through the day without his "rock-breaking" hands. Is violence part of Socrates' philosophy? Is it an unpleasant necessity? Is it the result of the force of outside circumstances? 13. In this book there is death by violence and death by old age. How does Socrates respond differently to the two kinds? What does he do for Roland in "History"? What about for Right in "Last Rites"?
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