Critical Views on the End

1.       ‘Not with a bang, but a whimper.’ (T.S. Eliot) The man dies, the boy is safe.

The quote is from the poem “The Hollow Men” and the rest of the stanza it is taken from is the repetition of the line “This is the way the world ends”. I agree with idea of the simplicity and the understated way the world (and the novel) ends, but I don’t know whether or not it is true that the boy is safe.

2.       Amazon reader review

I really agree with this review, although the idea that there are unanswered questions is a key part of the film. If you knew everything about the characters you wouldn’t get a sense of emotional distance, you would be able to relate to the characters. The fact that you can’t relate to the characters due to the lack of connection is what makes the novel seem unrealistic and distant, an aspect of a post-modern novel. [?] The idea that it is timeless is also accurate in my opinion; you can pick the book up at any point and not feel as though you have missed anything as it is monotonous and unchanging.

3.       http://markrossiter.info/

I like this review as it touched on the issue you I had with the ending. While it was good that the boy found what is presumed to be a family of “good guys” to take him in, it was completely out of the blue and just did not seem like it fit with the story. The “redemption” of the boy implies that everything has turned out for the best and he will be okay in the end which is inconsistent with the way McCarthy has presented the world as hopeless and good things do not happen no matter what.

4.       William Kennedy, New York Times

I agree with the family being a use of 'deus ex machina' and is kind of a ‘cop out’ it is a solution to the boy’s problem that has no attached questions. This review helps to explain more about the deeper meaning of the ending, and helps me understand what McCarthy might have been hoping to achieve with the addition of the new family.

5.       Amazon reader review(2)

I think the hope that the reader sees through the ending is subjective, I don’t automatically think that the family will bring good things for the boy. The whole way through the novel the man tells of how they have to avoid other people, and whenever we see another person they are always one of the “bad guys”. There has to be a reason why this is, and way the boy should be wary of his new family, they have given no reason for us to trust them.

6.       Guardian commenter on Comment is Free

I agree with the fact the ending can be viewed as a “cop out” it was went against what the book was about, the hopelessness and despair of the situation they are in. throughout we are set up for the fact it can only end in death, and instead we get a solution that comes out of nowhere allowing the boy to have a happily ever after (as much as a post-apocalyptic world would allow) with his nuclear family.

7.       John Holt, California Literary Review

Agree with the quote “timeless” it’s simplistic nature and the emphasis on the unchanging world means it’ll be able to read over and over without losing its meaning.

8.       Guardian commenter on Comment is Free (2)

I agree with this review as it is the same thought I had, why would the boy go against everything man had told him throughout and immediately trust these people? In the book you see the boy become less naïve and more aware of the evil, but in the end he forgets all of this and does indeed “revert to his naïve faith in the adult world”