Reader's Ink discussion

How did you feel about the ending, both as the trio took off to Nigeria to gather stories, and when Little Bee was captured? Was this a satisfying ending? And does it matter if it wasn't satisfying?

I liked and disliked parts of the ending. Personally, how they ended up on the beach was too contrived for me, but the last few pages and the open nature of the ending? I liked that a lot.

The ending could go any number of ways, but I couldn't escape the feeling that all three of them were dead shortly after the book ended.

Me three. I agree completely with Lauren. I specifically like your point about the number of ways the book could have ended.

Agreed, Lauren, they likely ended up dead. Contrived or not, I liked that they ended up back on the beach, ending where they started and all that. I'm a sucker for the symbolic stuff.

The open-ended aspect was a tad aggravating, but who doesn't want a tidy ending at the end of the story? But the fact that I truly wondered what happened to the tree of them speaks to how effectively Cleave tells a story. These characters were real to me, and I genuinely cared what happened to them!

I wasn't as excited that they went back to Nigeria- it definitely seemed naive and maybe a little over-altruistic. I agree that what happened after the book ended wasn't good for any of them, sadly.

I AGREE WITH ALL OF YOU! THE ENDING WAS CONTRIVED, AND I WOULD HAVE LIKED A MORE SOLID FINISHED ENDING. I, TOO, THINK THEY WERE ALL DEAD AT THE END AND VERY STUPID TO RETURN TO NIGERIA IN THE FIRST PLACE. EVEN WITH THE IDEA OF SURERHERO CHARLIE THERE TO SAVE THE DAY, WE KNOW THAT SUPERHEROES DON'T REALLY EXIST IN THE REAL WORLD. THIS CERTAINLY ADDS TO THE COMPLEX PHILOSOPHIES SURROUNDING ALL OF THE CHARACTERS.

I didn't think the ending was contrive at all. I think it redeemed itself from the middle of the story with Sarah and Lawrence (now, that was contrived!)
At the end, we finally found out Little Bee's real name and her name meant "Peace". I thought that at that moment both Charlie and Little Bee were able to be both at peace. Charlie was able to give up his batman costume and go on with life. And Little Bee was at peace with what was to come. She knew what she would do when the soldiers came - she killed herself. Remember that throughout the book, everywhere she went she tried to figure out how she would kill herself "if the men came".
So when the soldiers did come. One soldier put his hand on her shoulder and she didn't look back and the last line told us what she did. Drowning!