The sense of an ending - Thinking activity

Hello Readers,

This blog is a part of my thinking activity given by professor Dr.Dilip Barad. In this blog,we have to write our views regarding below given questions. To see the blog and the questions click here.

"The more you learn, the less you fear. 'learn' not in the sense of academic study, but in the practical understanding of life."

             (The sense of an ending - page 82)

The Sense of an Ending is a novel by Julian Barnes.The Sense of an Ending was awarded the Man Booker Prize.

Click here to read the summery of the text. 

This post is in response to the question asked here

"History is that certainty produced at the point where the imperfections of memory meet the inadequacies of documentation." How far can you agree with this definition of Adrian? Justify you answer with reference to your reading of ‘The Sense of an Ending’.

First of all, the above given definition was given by Patrick Lagrange. It is said that, History is the study of the past specifically, the people, societies, events and problems of the past and our attempts to understand them. We have many definition of history. The simple answer of this question is that something happened. It is important how you learn the history. It is very difficult to prove anything which was happened in history or the past. You can relate it but perhaps you cannot find any proof. If you have proper documents then you may trust on that. But documentation is necessary. If you will just say it is happened than nobody will accept it but if you have the documents than you may prove your points. One cannot relive one his or her memory. We cannot accept everything which is said or narrate by Tony Webster. When novel start, we can read it that Tony said that I remember, in no particular order. So here we have unreliable narrator. Adrian's way of dealing with subject is very unique and interesting one. Old Joe Hunt asks one question what is history, at that time Adrian give one example to prove his definition or idea about the history. He said that Robson's suicide is historical event. After that he asks many questions. So here we can see that how you can learn history.

“The question of subjective versus objective interpretation, the fact that we need to know the history of the historian in order to understand the version that is being put in front of us.” Do you agree? Give substantial illustrations from ‘The Sense of an Ending’.

I agree with the statement. In the novel, we have one unreliable narrator, Tony Webster. Tony Webster narrates the events from his memory. In the beginning of the novel, there is one line by Tony.

      "I remember, in no particular order."

So he is not sure about his own memory. May he have no habit of writing the dairy? We have to write our own diaries. In the novel we cannot trust on Tony's memory, but we can trust on Adrian's dairy. But Veronica said that she burnt it. We have two pages from the Adrian's dairy. We have to rely on Tony Webster memory because we don't have any other options. But we can think about the event.

“Mr. Barnes plays with the maxim that it’s better to regret the things you have done than the things you haven’t, and thus rages against living life complacently.” A. J. Kirby 

It is better to do something than not do anything.  Many people think that we are calm and happy, but are it really happy? We always think that the people who are aggressive are bad and the people who are peaceable are. But is this true? To me this is not true. If you do not say anything then people will think you will not do anything. We always think that those who can control the anger are good people. But the question is peaceable or coward? Another meaning of peaceable is cowardice. There are many people who are afraid of losing. Because of that, those people would not participate. But not participating is also not good thing. Firstly, we have to accept everything. In the novel, Veronica argues with Tony. Veronica's character is very aggressive. On the other hand, Tony seems to be very normal or peaceable man. He could not even say that he was damaged or I am damage. He has to say. In the ending of the novel, he accepted that he is not good man. But when peaceable people speak, at that time they damage more to other people.

    “The point is not about the ‘ugliness of letter’ which causes ‘damage’; it is rather about what he ‘thinks’ about it and how he ‘memorizes’ it”. Explain with reference to your reading of ‘The Sense of an Ending’.

When you do something, you have to think about what you do. When you do something without thinking about it, it may damage others. Writing is not a matter of knowing but it is more important to remember how and what to write. Tony Webster writes one ugly letter to Adrian and Veronica which causes damage. It is said that when you write something about particular person, then it is decided what you think of that person. What you remember also matters.

   “The book’s plot reads like that of a thriller paperback: full of vengeful ex-girlfriends, youth suicide, and illicit sex.” Explain. (Geoff Mak)

When we read the original text, it that time you may feel this. When Tony Webster who is protagonist character of the novel, listen that his childhood friend committed suicide and he comes to know about the Adrain’s dairy. Veronica’s mother sends him money and will. At that time, we have to think Why does Veronica’s mother have Adrian’s diary? And why did she want Tony, of all people, to have it? Tony suddenly finds himself mining his memory to find answers surrounding Adrian’s enigmatic suicide. His search lyrically reveals the weakness of memory as corroboration. These moments, rather than the book’s muscular plot, are where Barnes’ prose is strongest. So the plot reads like that of a thriller paperback.