Thematic Concern of The Sense of an Ending

 Thematic Concern of The  Sense of an Ending

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 Introduction

Julian Barnes is a contemporary English writer of Postmodernism in literature. He was more famous for his prosaic style, who was born in Leister on 19 January 1946 and was educated at the city of London school and magladen college Oxford.

The Sense of an Ending is about the person’s memory of youthful days. The novella is divided into two divisions. The divisions are entitled as Part1 and Part2. The first part begins in the 1960s.It begins with four intellectually arrogant school friends. We are told two friends out of four. The first one is Tony Webster who is the narrator of the story and the second one is Adrian the most talented and intelligent among four.

When they were in the last year of the college, a boy killed himself after getting a girl pregnant. Thus, The Sense of an Ending is not just person’s story; it is a story of a network of relationships between Tony Webster and Veronica but whose ending is this! That we cannot understand.

Themes

              Julian Barnes here justifies the Universal Truth that “One cannot know what he does not know” – with the reference of Tony Webster that he never understand the words of Veronica, When Tony asked Veronica bout the Money at that time she replied with very tragic answer “Blood Money”.  When Tony asked about other things at that time Veronica also replied with unaccepted answer: -

"You still don’t get it. You never did, and you never will. So stop even trying”.

Imperfection of Memory:

           The central theme of the novel is weakness of memory. Through the narrative of Tony Webster and his search for reason of Adrian’s death tries to justify one thing that is imperfection of memory, how our partial memory mislead us! Throughout the novel, writer tries to prove human memory and how it creates assumption on human mind.

                       As ‘The Sense of an Ending’ is memory novel, narrative also tries to give effect of fragmented memory. In the first part Tony tells his story of schooldays, all the events are in order and narrative has particular flow. But at the end of the first part narrative moves faster like “Time passes” section of ‘To the Lighthouse’. In only a paragraph the narrator tells about his marriage and divorce with Margaret, story of 40 years is told in some lines only. And the second part moves so slowly that, events are some but covers half novel.

                         In first part the narrator tells the story of 40 years ago. He says the events which he knows and considers as important. Second section is much important, because there is an event happen to Tony and he becomes nostalgic and narrates another event of his past. He tries to revaluate his past.  In this revaluation, he narrates the event of his past with different dimension and which are not so important according to his memory. Like, his letter to Adrian and Veronica, he informs when and why he wrote, which he did not narrate in first section before 40 years ago. This suggests that how memory is partial and fragmented.

                     “Well, in one sense, I can’t know what it is that I don’t know. That’s philosophically Self-evident.” Adrian’s this sentence is heart of the novel. Because of imperfection and weakness of memory, we cannot reach to reality as we have an assumption that whatever our memory suggests is only reality. Tony did not get sense about many things, about young Adrian; because his memory tells him one thing that Adrian has relationship with Veronica. Having this memory, he is in assumption that, young Adrian may is Veronica and Adrian’s son. He even doesn’t know what he doesn’t know, means he cannot bring himself out of his memory and cannot have view that, perhaps Adrian had relationship with other.

                      So, he cannot even guess that, Adrian was in love with Mrs. Sarah Ford! The mysterious story is actually invented to show how memory works. The writer clearly tells many interesting lines about memory, which shows that the main theme, core idea of the novel is to show imperfection of memory. Even the theme itself deconstructs Tony’s narration with his own soliloquies!

History:

                       With criticising memory, the novel also questions history. One of the central ideas the novel pointed is unreliability of history. “‘History is that certainty produced at the point where the imperfections of memory meet the inadequacies of documentation.’ ” It clearly says that what we believe history as truth is unreliable.

                     If human memory is partial than one cannot rely history or documentation done by man with his partial memory. With history classes of Old Joe Hunt, novel tries to develop this idea. The discussion about causes of world war, history is questioned. Adrian with example of Robson, very beautifully describes history as unreliable and not truth. Many ways novel tries to deconstruct given history.

                      It has some very good lines about history. The novel also focuses on objectiveness of historian. Because, one cannot be objective, as he cannot come out from his personal assumptions and cast of mind though he want to be. Even he cannot know what he doesn’t know. So, what the historian describes is according to his partial memory, imperfect knowledge and personal perceptions.

                         For objecting history, narrator gives his own example and his life, his story, (which he told) his mind, memory which cannot get sense are portrayed to prove how one cannot reach to the truth and creates stories, how one makes time personal and invents different version of past! As narrator says, “The history that happens underneath our noses ought to be the clearest, and yet it’s the most deliquescent. We live in time, it bounds us and defines us, and time is supposed to measure history, isn’t it? But if we can’t understand time, can’t grasp its mysteries of pace and progress, what chance do we have with history—even our own small, personal, largely undocumented piece of it?”

Eros and Thanatos:

Eros and Thanatos – Greek Myth

Eros – denotes romantic or intimate love, god of love, desire, sex.

Thantos - In Greek mythology was demon personification of death.

Minor figure in Greek Mythology

Eros Drive for survival, life instinct, pleasure, reproduction, and basic instincts like sex hunger and thirst.  These elements are necessary to preserve life Energy created by life instinct is also known as Libido

“The drive to preserve living substance and bring it together in larger unit.”  Eros is associated with behaviors that supports harmony among people such as love, collaboration and cooperation.

Thantos

counter part of Eros, Eros and Thanatos are both help define one another in that one is ‘not the other.’ drive to return to state of calm or dead state. It includes..negative feelings like hate, anger and aggression.

It is associated with anti-social behavior. “Born to die”, it drives human to engage in activities that bring them closer to death ………..cont...

Eros and Thanatos in The Sense of an Ending References in Text

‘Eros and Thanatos, sir.’-Adrian

Adrian-‘Sex and death,’ ‘Or love and death, if you prefer. The erotic principle, in any case, coming into conflict with the death principle. And what ensues from that conflict.(Barnes, 2011) Robson of the Science Sixth had passed away during the weekend. ‘Thanatos wins again.’

‘First-class degree, first class suicide,’

                  One of the major themes of the novel is “sex and death”. From the very beginning, the idea is established through the English class of Phil Dixon. Even suicide of the student-Robson is put appropriately. Because of having sexual relationship with girl, he has to commit suicide. “Thanatos weans again” Adrian spoke about Robson’s case. But how it will turn in reality in Adrian’s life also. Adrian who is more intelligent, mature, serious, philosopher became victim of the same thing and in his case also Thanatos weans. His sexual relation with a woman who is almost as old as his mother becomes reason of his suicide.

                The idea, presented at the beginning with English class, followed by Robson’s suicide is carried throughout the novel and at the end reached its extreme level with enclosing Adrian’s reason for death. Even the novel tries to say that “Eros and Thanatos” always destroys human life. With example of young Adrian, his abnormality, it can be proved.

Existentialism:

With Adrian’s philosophical ideas, the novel represents existentialist ideas. The well- known ideas of Albert Camus are shown in the novel. As Camus says, suicide was the only true philosophical question… Adrian, as existentialist, commits suicide in very young age. Even his way of killing himself is very significant in philosophical sense. He did not kill himself with out of mind but at very conscious mental state, he planned and performed. Some existentialist ideas, the novel presents are as following…

“he had explained his reasoning: that life is a gift bestowed without anyone asking for it; that the thinking person has a philosophical duty to examine both the nature of life and the conditions it comes with; and that if this person decides to renounce the gift no one asks for, it is a moral and human duty to act on the consequences of that decision.”

“My philosopher friend, who gazed on life and decided that any responsible, thinking individual should have the right to reject this gift that had never been asked for—and whose noble gesture re-emphasised with each passing decade the compromise and littleness that most lives consist of. “Most lives”: my life.”

“Camus said that suicide was the only true philosophical question.” - Adrian

Existentialism Vs Eros and Thanatos:

The novel is open ended about these two topics. Reason of Adrian’s suicide is not clearly given. But the facts about his life, before his death is revealed. His philosophical, existentialist ideas suggest that he was mature and serious about his way of living. Like an existentialist, he was having anxiety and restlessness about human life. So, these facts suggest that perhaps following his existentialist mentality, he commits suicide. In their school days, one of their classmates commits suicide because he made one girl pregnant. The reference of this story strongly focuses on idea of Eros and Thanatos.

 Even the novel ends with revealing facts about Adrian’s sexual relationship with Mrs. Sarah Ford quite before his suicide. It means, we can judge that, the writer may want to say, even Adrian is mature serious and has philosophical ideas cannot escape from very cheap trap of Eros and Thanatos. But we can also conclude against that idea that, perhaps, Adrian’s relationship and following events are only side kick of Adrian’s strong existentialist ideas on ending his life, the seed of suicide are already there.

There are many such questions which are not answered in the novel but readers can interpret with their own sense:---

Why Mrs. Ford has Adrian’s Diary?

What was the intention of Veronica to write Blood Money?

Why only one page of Adrian’s Diary allowed seeing Tony?

What is the meaning of Veronica’s statement You still don’t get it. You never did, and you never will. So stop even trying”.

What is the meaning of the mathematical equation:

b = s – v x/+ a1

a2 + v + a1 X s = b

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