Ending??

[suju]

I went through couple of other threads.. I didn't find any topics regarding the ending of the story. I just finished reading the book and curious to know what other people thought about the ending. For me, this book is the best book ever. When I got this book from library, and began to read some pages, it really made me bored looking how long the book was. But I am glad I didn't return it. Slowly I got the hang of this book and kept reading it all day long. I wish she made the happy ending of Lucy Snowe. I was really looking forward to see it. But so many hints were pointing out that he died on the voyage to meet her. Think back on thier last meeting, when M Paul stopped after saying "When I come back___" He didn't say any more. And those three years were the best of her lives cuz she had hopes of him coming and have a happy ending. Also, how she described the storm and stuff when he was about to arrive. This really makes me sad.. Ughh.. Oh well, I hope there are other people out there who want happy ending as well. All the other people did, why not she? If M. Paul was to die, how terrible it would be??

[banjobraids]

I just finished reading this this morning, and I am devastated at the ending. Utterly devastated. It's kept me distracted all afternoon, trying to be a good mama but thinking so much of Lucy and M. Paul. I just have to try to imagine that there was a happy ending for them so I can rest my mind, but feeling as if I know Charlotte Bronte's feelings toward reality I think it was meant to be a sad ending. This seems to be a somewhat angry and very grief-stricken story, venting her feelings about her own siblings' deaths. I love happy endings, though - call me shallow, but I do!

[misheal]

I have to comment that I made the mistake of reading a couple of the threads before I finished the book, and it disappointed me to find out that he died. Then when I finished the book, I took it that he didn't die. You have to really pay attention to what she says in the second to the last paragraph. I loved the book, and I say he survived and they lived happily.

[Lida_Mina]

I just finished it, and I am leaning toward him being dead. With the illusion to a happy ending, I believe he died. If he had lived I think she would have said so. Also, because she was so extremely happy, I had the horrible feeling that he would not make it home. Maybe I just had a rather dreadful view because of all of her hardships and because a lot of the turing points in her life were centered around ships. So, in order for it to be a turning point at the end, he would have to die so that she couldn't continue on with the path of happiness that she was currently on.

Normally I don't like ambiguous endings. I like solid endings so I don't have to wonder. This ending was different though. Although I believe it to have a sad ending, it is not truly stated as such. Thus, lessing the blow if they had just said he was killed in a shipwreck.

[cricketsong]

I've just finished reading the book for the third time. The first time, I was horribly depressed by the ending. The second time, I felt as if I had seen a great light, and M. Paul did in fact, live.

However, this is the third time. All through the book, Lucy sneaks in comments about the fate and the star to which people are born. Obviously, Dr. John and Paulina were born under a glad and generous star.

M. Paul and Lucy's lives seem to be saturated in sad experiences intermingled with sparse, but rich, piquant, joys that make the heart break. Their experiences were not what they would have chosen, but they have turned parts of their lives into a rewarding joy.

I think that's how the book ends.

Unlike most novels, I think Charlotte Bronte intended this book to not only reflect her characters, but also to reflect the reader. The ending of her book implies this. If you are the type that needs a happy ending, well, there you have it. If you are the gloomy type that is miserably satisfied in the death of M. Paul, there you have it.

For me, I think M. Paul died. I think Mees Lucie worked a long and satisfying life in her boarding school, and then went on to live with M. Paul in eternity. Why else would there be so much emphasis on the spiritual like there is in none of Bronte's other works?

I would love others' perspective on what I just wrote.

[Currer Bell]

Yes, a very sad ending. Though ambiguous in the sense that nothing is explicitly stated, the wording is such that none other than a tragic ending can be inferred. I (however terrible this may seem) am satisfied with the novel's ending (although I must admit I was very distracted for about a week after finishing!). The whole tone of the novel has a touch of sad fatalism about it and I feel that a "happy ending" would be quite out of place.

My favorite novel to date....*sigh*

[kelby_lake]

There's little room for doubt that Paul died. Lucy ends the story by rattling off a list of people who have died and then abruptly says goodbye.