Thinking Activity on Sense of an Ending

Thinking Activity on Sense of an Ending-

1. What is the meaning of phrase ‘Blood Money’ in Veronica’s reply email?

Sarah Ford, mother of Veronica sends one letter to Tony Webster and gave him 500 pounds. In the email to Veronica Sarah mentions about “Blood Money”, which Tony doesn’t understand. In the letter Adrian wrote about his relationship with Sarah Ford mother of Veronica. It was due to their relationship that a child was a born that too mentally retarded. This novel speaks about lack of love and faith amongst each other. “Blood Money” can also be said that it was covered with Adrian’s blood covered according to Veronica and she also says it as ‘impure’. For Veronica Tony somewhere or the other was also responsible for Adrian’s death.

2. How do you decipher the equation: b = s – v x/+ a1 or a2 + v + a1 X s = b?

Firstly, according to me the first equation seems like-

B (baby) is the symbol of S (Sarah) and a1 (Adrian) relationship. Adrian cheated Veronica and had relationship with her mother.

Secondly, according to me the second equation seems like-

A2 (Antony or Tony) was in relationship with Veronica, than after they had broken their relationship Veronica and Adrian came into relationship. But when Adrian was with Veronica he was seeing Sarah Ford Veronica’s mother and at the end they both became intimate and Sarah gave birth to a baby (b).

3. Adrian’s diary is willed to Tony by Sarah Ford. Why did Sarah Ford own it? Why was it in the possession of Veronica?

This somewhat indicates that when Adrian was with Sarah in his last days he was happy before he died. They both had affair so it was obvious that Sarah would know about the diary. Before she died in the will she mentioned that the diary is to be given to Tony and so it was done. That can be a reason of Adrian’s diary willed to Tony by Sarah Ford. But that diary is with Veronica because may be she doesn’t wanted to hand over it to Tony.

4. Was the mentally retarded middle aged ‘Adrian’, Tony’s friend who did not commit suicide and was suffering from trauma and thus gone mad, and was living with hidden identity?

In this novel many things are not clear. There are possibilities that Adrian is in guilt of what he has done and is living a life with secret identity. If we rely on Tony’s memory than we can see that he had mentioned that Adrian was more sensible than all in their group. So, it can’t be said that he would have committed suicide just because he made someone pregnant.

5. How was Veronica related to Adrian, the one suffering in care-in-the-community?

Veronica and Junior Adrian can be called step-siblings as Sarah and Adrian were the parents. We can also say that Adrian, who was Tony’s friend, was suffering from mental trauma and had gone mad as he can be called the step father of Veronica.

6. Do you see any missing block – some dot which is not getting connected with the whole or dot missing to get full sense of the novel - in the plot of this psychological thriller?

As this novel is totally based on memory of sixty years old Tony, so we can find many unclear things. Its like- why did Veronica and Adrian met? Why did Adrian cheat on Veronica? Why Sarah did kept on looking for different men? The novel itself doesn’t give us necessary information about the characters and so we can presume whatever we want to.

7.  Do you see any possible reason in the suicide of Adrian Finn?

In this novel one or the other had relationship. As Adrian was in affair with Sarah Ford that doesn’t he would commit such a cowardice act. But during their school days one of their friends did so for similar type of reason and can say that Adrian also came under the same influence.

8. In the light of new revelations, how do you read character of Veronica? Instinctive, manipulative, calculating, stubborn, haughty, sacrificial, trustworthy, good Samaritan?

In the novel we find that Tony as Narrator and through his point of view we look at every characters. But we perceive that Veronica’s character is different from others.  Veronica arises in our mind as instructive, Manipulative, Calculative, stubborn and haughty but as time passes the story discloses that she appears as sacrificial, intelligent, trust-worthily and Good Samaritan. It’s all from narrator Tony’s views points. It may be that this type of Veronica is not real one but narrator talk as their limitations.  Tony can’t think about beyond the boundaries that she is real or not. Or maybe something Good and shy Veronica.

9.What do you mean by Unreliable Narrator? Is Tony Webster classifiable as Unreliable Narrator?

 Unreliable narrator is the one whose narration cannot be taken as reliable or whose narration is not faithful to reality. Tony can also be called an unreliable narrator because he starts his narration by saying that “I remember, in no particular order”. We can say that whatever the narrator is going to tell is the outcome of his broken memory as he joins the missing dots with his own perspective and imagination.