Why I finally stopped defending that divisive book ending

Last month at my local library book club in Austin, this quiet guy named Mark said the final chapter of 'The Road' felt like a cop out because it gave too much hope. He pointed out how the whole book was about stripping things down to survival, then suddenly the mom character shows up with a clean house and food. Made me realize I was only defending it because I wanted a happy ending myself. Has anyone else had a fellow reader completely flip your take on a book's ending?

3 comments

3 Comments

kelly_craig18d ago

That thing Mark said about "the mom character shows up with a clean house and food" really sticks with me. It's like how in real life, when someone's going through something rough, everyone wants to jump in with the quick fix instead of just sitting with the hard parts. I see it all the time at work when a coworker is having a bad day and people try to cheer them up with jokes or treats instead of just letting them be sad for a minute. We're so used to stories and life having neat little bows on them that we forget sometimes the point is the struggle, not the rescue. Made me wonder how many other endings I've been defending just because I couldn't handle the truth.

susan13012d ago

Maybe the real point is that struggle alone doesn't heal anyone either, it's both that matters.

hayden14418d ago

That clean house and food" is creepy when you realize she's basically a ghost, not a rescue.