Book Club Discussion Questions for The Barn by Wright Thompson

1. In Part 1, Thompson mentions how, "Till's murder, a brutal window into the truth of a place and its people, had been pushed almost completely from the local collective memory…" What are your memories of Till's murder prior to reading this book? Can you remember the first time you learned of it and the details used to explain the tragedy? Do they differ from the events mapped out in The Barn?
2. It is stated that for Patrick Weems, "…it is his goal to preserve all the places associated with Emmett's murder, with the hope that these places might teach future generations to be better than their ancestors." We have seen similar methods used around the world, using remnants of past tragedies to deter people from repeating them. Do you view this as an effective preventive method? Do people heed history as a warning?
3. On the decision of whether or not to make Emmett's body more "presentable," Mamie Till-Mobley historically said, "No, let the world see what I've seen." What do you make of her decision? Is it the decision you would have made? Compared to the videos we see now circulated on social media of brutalized Black bodies, do you think sharing images of this nature has successfully deterred anti Blackness? What is the lasting impact of these images?
4. The text explains that, "Breland said men like him needed to push dumb, poor white folks to fear and then let the violence grow on its own." How have we seen examples of this tactic used in American history? Is it still in use today?
5. Cornelius Pittman tells the story of his brother's near lynching in 2009. To many, the act of lynching is seen as a relic of history, something out of practice in the 21st century. How do you reckon with their occurrence in present day?
6. "The defense had painted a picture of a vast plot by people all over America… The jurors bought that story because they'd long ago given up logic and common sense. A cult is built on believing the absurd if the absurd justifies the cult." How and why does this cult creation happen? Have you ever fallen into cult like thinking? If so, what were the consequences and how were you able to bring yourself back to reality?
7. What can we learn from stories of men like Joe Pullum, "a man who decided to send as many of the enemy to hell as he could before they got him"? How does his story shake up running narratives from its time period and what does the erasure of his story tell you?
8. Land, location, and the existence of boundaries play a significant role in this historical event. Thompson notes that, "Boundaries governed more and more movements and spaces, and crossing one of those boundaries would be Emmett Till's fatal crime." How have boundaries, and the crossing of them, played a role in other significant historical events? What do you make of the continued existence of boundaries governing movements today and the consequences of crossing them?
9. Thompson dedicates an entire section to Destiny, the interconnectedness of the Delta, the various people to cross its path, and the strings connecting them all in various ways. Do you believe in destiny? What have been your encounters with it?
10. It is noted that before Mamie Till-Mobley died, she asked Wheeler to be one of the people who would keep her son's memory alive. How does one keep the memory of someone else alive, intact, and accurate, particularly a memory so many have attempted to bury?

Unless otherwise stated, this discussion guide is reprinted with the permission of Penguin Press. Any page references refer to a USA edition of the book, usually the trade paperback version, and may vary in other editions.