(Click title for link to the story. I mostly ramble about endings until the end. If all you want is my opinion skip down to the last paragraph.)
I have a problem. I find this problem irritatingly omnipresent. This problem seems to be everywhere I look. I find it in TV series, many movies, and, perhaps most annoyingly of all, in my own writing. My problem is that good endings are nearly impossible to find. Now, when I write about bad endings my mind immediately jumps to Adventureland, a very good movie about abject failure and its side-effects, not exactly pleasant but important in the land of story-telling. It could have been a good coming of age story. But no. No, instead they pandered to an audience that wasn't there and, in a completely ridiculous turn of events, (spoiler alert) James (Jesse Eisenberg) moves to New York where he and Em (Kristin Stewart, who didn't exactly help the movie (sarcasm alert) with her brilliant acting skills (and no, I'm a Twilight fan and I'm not a twelve-year-old girl, my disappointment goes beyond petty feuds)) live happily ever after. It ruined the movie. What was an honest representation of the bumps and scrapes that people must endure to mature, became crap. Large, stinky, and steaming.
This is why I have such eternal respect for William Faulkner and A Rose for Emily, and indeed any writer who finds a way to end his or her story satisfyingly. Faulkner manages to, through frankly excellent story-telling, make us sympathize, even empathize with someone whom we should feel nothing more than disdain and pity for. Miss Emily Grierson is a snooty, arrogant, difficult, stubborn relic of the past. She does nothing for the town, she doesn't even pay her taxes, and expects everything from the townspeople. She takes advantage of the people around her and is completely selfish. And yet, when (spoiler alert, you guys should really read the story before you read what I have to say about it) we are told of the strand of hair she has left behind with the only lover she ever had I couldn't help but feel bad for disliking her and laughing at some of her misfortunes, which are hilariously written. It gave her a subtle humanity which she did not possess prior to that. The strand of hair proved that she longed for companionship and that she could be with someone. It gave her a dignity which merely being stubborn and arrogant could never afford her. And even though it was an open ending, something which should never be attempted at home, Faulkner hits it out of the park. His ending trusts me. He does not feel the need to hold my hand throughout explaining every detail, rather he trusts that I can understand, infer, and interpret like a normal human being. But best of all, the ending is satisfying. Like a gaggle of women on Sunday I was excited to hear this final piece of gossip about Miss Emily and reading it made me happy for her. It gives the story, and Emily's life, closure.
Overall it was an excellent read. It had all the charm of the south and the characters were well drawn and complex and the end didn't make me feel patronized, unlike the ending of a certain movie whose title begins with an A and ends with dventureland (I'm giving Adventureland a hard crack of the whip. The end didn't ruin it, it just made it worse. It was still a decent movie). Faulkner, as if I had to say it, is absolutely inspired. The man can weave a sentence so beautifully it makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. Elegant and concise all at the same time. I'm going to put this one in the Thoroughly Enjoyed pile, how about you?
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