THinking Activity: The Sense of an Ending

 

1.  How do you understand memory and history with reference to your reading of this novel.

Ans :

The novel speakes of the memory and history which has different parameters. The novel constructes aspects about the memory. We keep our memories but we can not rely on that. We constructes our memories through our perspective. Memory records about what happened, perhaps it is not recorded as it is. The first part is about 'imperfection of memory'. As Adrian refers "History is that certainty produced at the point where the imperfections of memory meet the inadequacies of documentations." We can say great history to personal memory. Inadequacies of documents can't makes the certain history. As in the novel Tony remembers imperfect memory in which he can not thinks of his deeds. History and memory both are very much connected because history is the part of our memories. Tony’s own tale of his student days is quite unreliable.

2. How do you understand the concept of suicide with reference to your reading of literature ranging from Renaissance play Hamlet, 20th cen Existentialist philosophy and this 21st cen novel The Sense of an Ending?

Ans :

First novelistic suicide pattern merged in nineteenth century. Authors like Ernest Hemingway and Virginia Woolf include theme of suicide in their writing.In Shakespeare' s Hamlet Ophelia committed suicide by some particular reason. But Hamlet was mentally upset man though he doesn't think to like this.

If we see suicide in 20th century Existentialist philosophy,then we can recall first Waiting for Godot. It is based on Existentialism and Vladimir and Estragon wants to committed suicide but they can't do it. They have not any responsibility in life though they don't do that. They have nothing to live life but they can't die also. If we see it as philosophical way that it means is when people are not able to maintain meaning that they are most psychotically vulnerable.By the reading of The Sense of An Ending, there are two people commit suicide,Robson and Adrian. Both have different reason but why Adrian committed suicide is not clearly visible. Robson escape from his responsibilities and choose to die. He has fear about lost of his morality and how society will treat him after knowing the reason.But Tony Webster has not done this all things though he was the reason of damage of someone's life. While character like Adrian who think that they have enjoy the life so now the time is coming to die and he committed suicide.