Wow...After I finished reading, I thought that the ending was incredibly sad. Right after I read it, I couldn't understand why the Grandfather decided to kill himself, but now after having thought it over, I think I get why. He didn't have any reason to go on, because Augustine was a myth that would never be all that he wanted it to be, and Alex didn't need him anymore. That's why he said he was happy; because Alex had become the man that the Granfather had wanted him to be. His job was finished, and he wanted to bow out on his own terms. He also knew that he may not every be that satisfied and happy again, so I guess it was best to leave on a high note...I just wish that he would have considered how much his death would hurt Alex.
Now that I look back though, the ending is still hopeful. There's hope for little Igor, and hope for Alex and his mother and Jonathan. The past has done it's job in helping the future grow, and they all will (hopefully) be better people because of it.
I agree with Julia that the ending of the book was shocking, but in a weird way, able to be understood. Grandfather was "illuminated"with happiness, and there was no way to go but forward. I thought a slight foreshadow to Grandfather's death was his acceptance and attitude when Alex told him he would not give him the money- I expected Grandfather to be angry, as we have seen him with a short temper the whole book. However, he was calm and understanding, and that showed how much he had changed, and was still changing. Its almost as if he had lost his will to fight, and that contributed to his suicide.
ReplyDeleteI also agree with most of what Julia said except for one aspect. I do not believe that Grandfather was not going out on his own terms. As Alex was there to protect Grandfather, Grandfather's purpose was to protect Alex from the past. When Alex is able to kick out his father for good and stop his correspondence with JSF, his only other connection to the past was grandfather. As Anna said, when cuts his ties the only way for him to go is forward. The only way that Alex can truly move forward is if Grandfather is out of the picture. Thus his last act (of suicide) was to ensure Alex would not be affected by his presence. His death was not a choice he made after his job was finished. Rather it was his final duty to Alex to give him a better future. Eli/Alex Sr. may have not have been a good father, but he was a great grandfather.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Marcus in that his death was the final act of removing the burden of the past from Alex. what I found interesting was that the last line was "I will walk without noise, and I will open the door in darknes and I will" 276. The meantion of darkness (it may be literal) just sticks out to me. The whole book was about illuminating the past and here Grandfather is going into the darkeness. So in this book does darkenss represent the future or anything unknown?
ReplyDeleteIts an odd mix of hope and sadness at the end. Alex has finally realised that he will never make it to America, and neither with Igor. He's stopped living in his dreams and fantasies about that, and while that depressed me at first to see his dreams crushed like that, I realize that his getting rid of his father opened the door for a new real life. Now he has the opportunity to make his own way in the world, and to find new goals and dreams in the real world. He's left his dreams behind to find out that reality in the Ukraine may not be as bad as he thought.
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