Everything you need to understand or teach The Greenlanders by Jane Smiley.
Like much of Smiley's fiction, The Greenlanders focuses on social collapse which occurs because those involved — through ignorance, stubbornness, or chance — are incapable of changing to meet new conditions. While the descendants of Asgeir Gunnarsson are Smiley's main concern, she introduces a large cast of characters — farmers, clergy, outlaws, sailors, and Skraelings — to develop her theme of social collapse.
Nevertheless, all is not doom-ridden.
In the midst of long-term...