For the end of the novel I was a little disappointed. As we discussed in class, the name “Struggle” didn’t really impress me what so ever. I liked the way he presented it, but the name wasn’t so great. When I first read the name of the town I immediately thought about the founding of the town. The name Struggle looks to be an immediately reference to the struggle of slaves. Being that free slaves for the basis for the town being founded, it would only make sense to turn back to the founding fathers, right?!
What I also thought was interesting about our class discussion and the end of the book was the place of the stubbed toe in the novel. The way the narrator continues to cover his terrible mistake of stubbing his toe over and over again sparked an idea for me. Maybe the re-stubbing of his toe should represent the way the name New Prospera as the towns name would cover up the history of the town. Once he loses his toe there isn’t anything to cover up anymore. Perhaps the toe is a metaphor for revealing the name of the town, “Struggle”, as a way to reveal the history of the town. What has led the town to where it is at the end of the novel. What I would really like to know is how the people of the town respond to what the narrator chose as the name of the town. The ending wasn’t quite what I expected it to be. I wanted more information after reading the end that was unavailable.
Marina-
I agree with you that the ending of this book definitely wasn’t as satisifying as I would have wanted it to be. I also would have liked to have known what the people thought of the name he had given their town; seeing as how they are stuck with it for at least a year.
Like you, I also saw the toe coming to symbolize the progress of the town. On its way to becoming New Prospera, there are a continual string of stubs, each one only making things worse and worse. So it would seem that in order to make things right in the town, the band-aid needs to be removed and the problems dealt with directly, or there needs to be some type of amputation, thus eliminating the problem and starting over again.