The Forest of Hands and Teeth Love

"All you need is love," sang the Beatles, "Love is all you need." Or is it? Can love provide an escape from flesh-eating zombies? Can it break traditions that have provided security to a village for generations? Can love save people from an Infected death? Mary's answer? Heck, yes. Cass's answer? Ab-so-lute-ly not. In The Forest of Hands and Teeth, each character feels plenty of love, but what they do with that love depends on their own personal opinion about the Beatles's mantra. In the end, all we really know is that "Love is a many-splendored thing."

Questions About Love

1. How do Cass's and Mary's definitions of love differ?
2. Who loved Mary more—Travis or Harry? Why?
3. Were Mary's feelings for Travis true love, lust, or something else entirely?
4. In what ways did Jed show his love for Beth?

Chew on This

Though Mary claimed that her love for Travis matched Jed's love for Beth, she was wrong.

Mary's love for Travis was every bit as strong as Jed's love for Beth.