Shaffer, Peter: 1926 - 2016

The Royal Hunt of the Sun, 1964 - Thematic Parallels: Search for Meaning

Search for Meaning is about understanding one’s place in a larger cosmic or divine plan.
Shaffer, Peter: The Royal Hunt of the Sun, 1964
The topic of "The Royal Hunt of the Sun" is the spiritual and cultural confrontation between the Spanish conquistadors and the Incas, focusing on the human cost of conquest and the struggle between faith, power, and morality.
The following books are thematically simliar. They lend themselves well to being read in groups, compared with one another, or used to teach a similar topic over an extended period with a class:
- Danticat, Edwidge: Breath, Eyes, Memory, 1994, ~230pp
  This is a novel exploring personal and cultural identity.
  - Power imbalances rooted in colonization shape both worlds — whether through conquest (Shaffer) or generational trauma (Danticat). Memory, in both cases, is both burden and redemption — a way to confront the past and understand oneself.
- Kidd, Sue Monk: The Secret Life of Bees, 2002, ~300pp
  This is a novel exploring themes of spirituality, identity, and the search for a meaningful life.
  - Both works explore the loss and rediscovery of faith through encounters with an “other” — Lily with the Black women who offer her a new vision of spirituality, Pizarro with the Inca king who embodies a godlike presence. They oppose dogmatic or institutional religion with personal, experiential spirituality. They suggest that true faith comes from compassion and human connection, not conquest or doctrine.
- Priestly, J.B.: An Inspector Calls, 1945, ~70pp
  This play explores social responsibility and human morality.
  - Both plays are moral investigations that challenge audiences to confront uncomfortable truths. Their central figures are catalysts for revelation. They confront others with the consequences of their actions and force them toward self-knowledge—or despair.
- Wiesel, Elie: Night, 1960, ~100pp
  This memoir is about Holocaust experience and survival meaning.
  - Both works center on men confronting the collapse or transformation of faith when faced with immense suffering and moral contradiction. They grapple with the meaning of divinity in the face of human suffering, suggesting that spiritual truth may lie in compassion or moral endurance rather than dogma.
List of general discussion questions on Search for Meaning (pdf)
List of essay prompts on Search for Meaning (pdf)