A Different Kind of Disappointment
I don't find the ending of the novel disappointing; I find students' reactions to the ending disappointing. If you want neat and tidy, dust off your copy of The Notebook (book or DVD). Ultimately, education is about learning how to ask better questions, not having all the answers. And reading a novel is more about examining and trying to understand yourself and those around you than being able to fit the characters into particular boxes. After all, life is more complicated than that, isn't it?
posted by Anonymous at 4:49 PM
3 Comments:
I can understand what you mean about the ending, but there's a difference between the notebook and "And the Shadows Took Him." I think that in Chacon's book, I didn't feel much emotion in terms of the Notebook. I also felt that he destroyed the heads not so much as to free himself, but more or less to please others. I felt like in the end he discussed about going to his mother and rachel and telling them that he left and that he was free, but I think it was more to please his mother rather than to free himself and find himself as well. I don't necessarily think that students want neat and tidy, I think we just more closure, and in the notebook I felt like everything was going to be alright, but in And the Shadows Took Him, I didn't feel any emotion in terms of the ending. And I agree that life is a little more complicated than wanting a tidy and neat ending, but I think a little closure always makes it a great read.
I have to agree with the original post; life is not a neat and tidy "story" that can be summed up to make everyone happy with "endings". Life sucks- you just have to play with the cards dealt to you. Ask questions, try to find the meaning in the answers and situations provided. If you try to read too much into a story, or expect things to fall a certain way, you will always be disappointed with the endings that are not of your own creation.
I agree with you totally. However, what understanding did you personally get from the reading? What truths did it reveal to you? How is life more complicated: how was the book more complicated that the words on the pages for you? Val
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