Jane Austen is one of my favorite novelists, but all six of her books have one flaw: the endings disappoint. She develops memorable characters; writes witty dialog; satirizes ladies, clergy and parents with aplomb; and refreshes her formula (girl gets boy) so that each plot unfolds beguilingly. But when she reaches a book’s end, she seems incapable of writing a truly satisfying ending. Is she out of ideas? Tired? Wanting to move on?
Some authors write books with wonderful endings, but they keep writing past that good ending so their actual ending isn’t so good. Leo Tolstoy’s War and Peace’s perfect ending is when Pierre, now free to marry, encounters Natasha after the war. He thinks, “Can it be that this hand, this face, these eyes, all this treasure of feminine loveliness that is stranger to me now, can it be that it will all be eternally mine, habitual, the same as I am for myself? No, it’s impossible!” Natasha, as if reading his mind, responds, “I’ll be waiting very much for you.” This is the novel’s natural culmination, yet the book continues for another 100 pages.
Writing a satisfying ending is hard whether it be for a novel, TV series or film. Is the cut to blackness as Tony Soprano sits in a restaurant with his family a good ending or a cop-out? Is it a good ending when the mortally wounded gunslinger, Shane, rides into the darkness while little Joey yells, “Shane! Come back, Shane”? How about F. Scott Fitzgerald’s ending to The Great Gatsby: “So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.” Is that a great ending?
There is not one perfect ending that will work for every novel. But good endings have recognizable characteristics:
- Good endings are organic to the story. When a “god” or savior-type character arrives at the last minute, that is not a good ending because such a situation is not true to life. A good ending must flow naturally from the plot. To Kill a Mockingbird’s ending is a good one because Atticus puts Scout to bed the way he often does, and they have a gentle conversation, the way they often do, before Atticus moves on to Jem’s room where Atticus will watchall night over his unconscious son. Huckleberry Finn’s ending is a bad one because all the coincidences that come together to free Jim are unlikely. The reader doesn’t believe the ending. Lord of the Flies also offers an unsatisfactory ending. Just as Ralph is about to be slaughtered by uncivilized boys, a naval officer appears and Ralph is saved.
- Some good endings show that justice wins. Tony Soprano, a mafia boss who has ordered the murder of others, is himself murdered–or so many think. In Silas Marner, Silas’s gold is restored, and the child whom he has rescued chooses to live with him rather than with the rich birth father who earlier rejected her. In most children’s stories, the bad guy loses and the good guy wins.
- Many good endings show that justice loses. In Raymond Chandler’s first novel, The Big Sleep, the private detective is complicit in allowing a murderer to avoid arrest, a trial, and prison time. In The Great Gatsby, Daisy Buchanan continues with her careless life despite killing her husband’s mistress. In the film Chinatown a private eye watches helplessly while a woman protecting her daughter dies in gunfire and that woman’s rapist takes control of her daughter. In Of Mice and Men one friend murders another to protect him from the cruelty he will likely face in a prison.
- Some good endings restore harmony. At the end of Romeo and Juliet, the feud between the Capulets and Montagues ends. Rochester and Jane Eyre are reunited without the impediment of Rochester’s demented wife in Jane Eyre.
- Some good endings have unexpected twists. Around the World in 80 Days ends with Philias Fogg short of winning his bet to circle the glove by one day—no wait, by one hour—no wait, by nine minutes. He rushes to the whist club with seconds to spare. This ending is organic because Fogg’s servant, Passepartout, is fastidious about the time, and doesn’t realize he has lost 24 hours by traveling east.
The test to a great ending is this: Are you the reader satisfied? You may want the story to continue because it is a great story, but since it doesn’t, are you content and even pleased with the ending? If so, for you it is a great ending.
English Writing Teacher 