The idea of attention comes up in nearly every chapter of the book. It is used to solidify the author’s hesitations with the Catholic church and it buttresses her overall project of establishing pure, individual contact with God. Why is attention so important to Weil? What work does this concept do for her and what is at stake in her placing it at the center of her thought?

This question gives the reader(s) an opportunity to think across the text, and to establish connections between variant letters and essays, all of which take the concept of attention to primary importance.

The relationship between collective, social institutions and the freedom of the individual is a primary theme in this text, emerging as a conflict between Weil’s perceived intellectual vocation and Father Perrin’s desire to see her be baptized and formally enter the Catholic church. Different reasons are given for this across many different chapters. What are these reasons and why is this dichotomy so important to Weil? What lies at the root of this conflict? Why does she not find Father Perrin’s exhortations convincing? Is Weil’s own position persuasive or effective?