Looking back
on the novels that we have read throughout the semester, there is one thing
about them that sticks out to me in particular, something that I have not
encountered in other literary works. This is the presentation of a somewhat
unsatisfying ending at the novel’s conclusion. Rather than tying everything off
nicely and providing the reader with a happy ending, these novels tend to push
for the reader to think more about what the character has gone through and
understand the deeper meaning behind everything.
The first example of this was in The Crying of Lot 49. Throughout the
entire novel, Oedipa is on a quest for something. She is not exactly sure what
it is, but she is going after it based on clues left for her by an ex-lover who
is deceased. Along the way, she ends up coming into contact with many strangers
and getting their insight on different aspects of life, following a trail that
she thinks is going to lead her to something. She follows a specific symbol,
involving herself deeply in this alternate postal service only to end up with
nothing at the end of the novel. There is no answer, no reason, no big revelation
as to why the search was important, or what kind of meaning it had for her as a
character.
Similarly, in Extremely
Loud and Incredibly Close Oskar is also on a search. He is looking for
something that he believes that his father, who is deceased, has left for him,
though he doesn’t know what it could be or why. Like Oedipa, Oskar follows
these things that he assumes to be clues and ends up meeting many strangers
along the way, none of whom seem to have any idea what he is doing or talking
about. He becomes deeply involved in his search, and yet, once he finds out
what it is that he was looking for, it wasn’t anything for him after all. It
wasn’t something left behind by his father, and so everything is thrown into
confusion once again. There is no answer or reason behind any of it.
The point of this seems to be to inspire a deeper
kind of thinking and analyzing of the novels and the events that happen within
them. Without providing the reader with a happy ending and a reason for
everything that’s happened, the reader has to instead go back and find that
reason for themselves.
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