Topic 166: On Hugging a Conclusion

Carol:

So Long, Farewell,  Auf Wiedersehen, Good-bye

I was very disappointed when Megan and I were watching the Masterpiece Theater mini-series South Riding. I suddenly realized it was the final episode,  which  took me by surprise.  I would have paid closer attention to how the various characters marched, tripped, or leaped to their respective conclusions. We did agree that the final minutes of the show provided satisfactory closure for all but poor Midge Carne who left a public school  education in a working class English town to live with her rich grandfather and go to a Swiss finishing school. Poor, poor Midge.   I love a satisfying conclusion, whether to a movie, a book, or real  life.
 

My favorite film ending  was  a surprise that would  have been a literal seat-grabber if I had anticipated the final scene. Instead, I settled back into my seat to wait for the credits, so when Carrie’s bloody hand reached up from her fresh grave and grabbed hold of what’s-her-name’s  wrist,  I jumped a foot out of my seat.  Another movie ending I think I would like is A Letter to Three Wives (1949) where Addie Ross announces which of her three best friends’ husbands she has run away with.  Next time I watch this movie—I think it will be the 4th time—I plan to record it in case I fall asleep AGAIN during the last 15 minutes.
 

I appreciate literary endings with a punch to them but also with internal consistency. For example, a good mystery does not resort to red herrings  or last-minute clues  thrown in to account for a completely implausible solution to a crime. The clues need to be doled out along the way --with  subtlety because if the solution is too obvious, the reader doesn’t have the opportunity to feel smart  My very favorite ending  is John Collier’s  story  “Thus I Refute Beelzy,”   a little slice of dark, shocking fantasy in a 9th grade literature anthology I taught. The story is quite short and the text happened to fit exactly on two pages.  But, it ends abruptly without any resolution (denouement).  I loved to watch my students react when they invariably turned the page to read the rest of the story—which, of course, wasn’t there.  We always had fun talking about why they expected more, why the author stopped when he did, what makes a great ending, etc.
 

One end  I’m really looking forward to  is my online driving school, which I wrote about last Thursday for Topic 166 “Mental Detours.”  Just as I was really getting into writing this essay, the dogs began to bark and I saw a car stopped in front of our house. The subject of the doggish uproar was a process server—omigod—who was luckily intercepted by my husband (thank you thank you thank you) who promised that I would contact the Court tomorrow to verify that I am doing traffic school.  It seems that I never sent  notice to the Prescott Valley Magistrate that I signed up for traffic school . In fact, there it is next to my computer, the form all filled out and ready to mail.
 

I told Megan she has to stay home tomorrow and watch me like a cop (how apropos) so that I actually DO finish the online course and send in my paperwork.  A John Collier ending with Surprise and Shock is okay in fiction, but in the real world, my idea of  a conclusion worth hugging is Safe and Dull.

 

Source:
Collier, John. “Thus I Refute Beelzy.”

Megan:

I cheated again and read mom’s essay first. She finished it yesterday, which almost NEVER happens and now for once, she’s waiting around for me. I like her idea of talking about endings to books or movies that she really likes. I wish I had thought of it. All I can relate this topic to is the feeling I keep having that “When this is over, I’m going to be so happy.”

I’m really sort of frustrated today. Everything is a mess. I have a sneaking suspicion that this is a ploy by my parents to get me to move out of the house. My mother denies it, and makes the novel suggestion that if I don’t like the way the house is, then maybe I should help out more. I do help out. I still do most of the cooking. But I can’t cook if the kitchen is dirty, and I can’t wash my clothes if your clothes are in the washer and no, I’m not going to do your laundry because I would never ask you to do my laundry cuz it’s gross.

And then the puppy ruined not only my new favorite dress (which replaced my old favorite dress that she ruined last week), but ALL of my dresses because I left them hanging next to her crate. One by one she tore them off the hangers and pulled them into her lair, shredding them methodically, not along the seams because that would be too easy to mend, and then nesting in the pieces. This  was my fault obviously, but it’s not hard sometimes to see why people return dogs to the shelter. But it’s not really the dog I’m frustrated with, it’s myself.

Whenever I make up my mind to change something, to get started in a new direction, I’d rather skip to the end than wade through all the crap on the way. I’ve always been less of a goal-oriented person and more of an instant gratification type person. In my mind, I know how the world works, how grownups are supposed to act. But I’m impatient. I want results now. I want the house clean and the puppy trained.  I’ve decided to apply for grad school, so now I want to fast forward to being accepted – skip over the GRE,  and the application process.

Actually, I’m looking forward to some of that process. I like working on the stories, figuring out which samples would be appropriate for which program. I like researching the programs and figuring out which ones would be appropriate for me. I have an idea again of where I want to be and what I want to do, and I’m willing to do the work to get there. I just wish I was there already.