The View from Saturday Theme of Friendship

Friendship isn't just about racking up numbers on Facebook. (No, seriously.) In The View from Saturday, it's a lot more like some sort of weird, mystic connection that bonds you in creepy, telepathic ways. By the end of the novel, The Souls aren't individuals so much as they're four different aspects of the same person. Frankly, we might just rather post on someone's wall.

Questions About Friendship

  1. How do The Souls become friends? Do they become friends before they're The Souls, or does The Souls happen after they've already become friends?
  2. Would you say that Mrs. Olinski and The Souls are friends? Is this an unconventional friendship, as it's portrayed in the book?
  3. What is the greatest act of friendship in The View from Saturday?
  4. How are friendship and teamwork related? Does the book suggest that teams work better if the members are friends?

Chew on This

Try on an opinion or two, start a debate, or play the devil’s advocate.

Konigsburg suggests that The Souls could not have won the Academic Bowl without being good friends.

In The View from Saturday, Mrs. Olinski gains the most from friendship.