Zachary’s answer to “Can someone explain the epilogue to me? This isn't a spoiler but I'm marking it as one in case I ge…” > Likes and Comments
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Thank you! I completely misread it the first time. I thought Jack was asking what he should call Cheryl, which confused me. Your answer was perfect.
It refers to the bedtime story Cheryl told Jack on page 236 (of the hardcover, anyway). I do believe it is meant to be Cheryl doing the running and laughing, however, as that is how it is in her bedtime story.
Yeah exactly. Zachary's answer is correct, it's just Cheryl who runs towards Jack and Clee who remains behind.
That's interesting, I remember the pronouns being a little ambiguous at that point.
It's ambiguous but here's my take.
“What should I call her? Ms. Glickman?”
“Just call her Cheryl.”
“Is that her? That woman waving (Cheryl)?”
“Where?”
“Down at the very end. With the blond lady (Clee). See?”
“Oh. Yeah. She looks old (Cheryl is older than Clee). Clee came too, that’s Clee (the Blond Lady).”
“She’s so happy to see you—oh, she’s running (Clee).”
“Yeah.”
I'm pretty sure it's Cheryl running. They express concern because she's too old to be running in the airport. And Clee is so passive with Jack in their last encounters that it's pretty hard to believe she'd actually choose to run to him.
But thematically, does that make sense? The Glee running reading suggests that the two characters are simply happier versions of themselves. Cheryl is passive and maternal, Clee is aggressive and short sighted. Together the two of them, eventually, find happiness raising Jack. The other reading, Cheryl running, is a total personality flip. What's the idea there? That Cheryl needs to become Clee and Clee needs to become Cheryl to be happy? I just don't this is supported by the rest of the book.
I should say that, upon rereading it I'm convinced that there's no "right" answer. July wrote it intentionally unclear.
Clee was pretty clearly uninterested in "raising Jack," which is why he was surprised to see her there, and which would also be why she wouldn't run to him. I just don't think it fits in her "barely give a shit about anything" outlook to be running to Jack. But yeah, I think July purposely incorporated an air of dreamlike ambiguity there.
Also, the fact that July mentions in the earlier chapter that Cheryl would be the one running to an older Jack and the scene is supported by the same words and set up as that fantasy kind of supports that it is Cheryls and has come true.
Honestly I had to re-read this about ten times and was initially angry at the author for being so ambiguous, but I think I understand now what is going on. ----It seems that somewhere in the future while Cheryl raised Jack alone her and Clee had reached a sort of friendship or relationship and I assume that Clee probably had her own life but occasionally would see Jack, but Cheryl was his real mother and raised him. This scene is in the future and obviously Cheryl shared her dream of going to China with Jack while he was growing up and when he got older it looks like perhaps he moved there. He must have been gone for quite some time because Clee is there and Cheryl can barely contain her excitement. I dont think Clee doesnt run because she is indifferent to Jack, I think she does it out of respect for Cheryl, Clee realizs Cheryl is his caretaker/mother and did all the hard work over the years so she lets Cheryl run to him and have her moment with him and takes a stand back becasue she knows he is really not her child. It is a little fantasy/hazy the epilogue but that is how Cheryl thinks, it seems everything worked out in the end for everybody. Hope this makes sense.
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Benji
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Jan 29, 2015 03:27AM
Thank you! I completely misread it the first time. I thought Jack was asking what he should call Cheryl, which confused me. Your answer was perfect.
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It refers to the bedtime story Cheryl told Jack on page 236 (of the hardcover, anyway). I do believe it is meant to be Cheryl doing the running and laughing, however, as that is how it is in her bedtime story.
Yeah exactly. Zachary's answer is correct, it's just Cheryl who runs towards Jack and Clee who remains behind.
That's interesting, I remember the pronouns being a little ambiguous at that point.
It's ambiguous but here's my take.“What should I call her? Ms. Glickman?”
“Just call her Cheryl.”
“Is that her? That woman waving (Cheryl)?”
“Where?”
“Down at the very end. With the blond lady (Clee). See?”
“Oh. Yeah. She looks old (Cheryl is older than Clee). Clee came too, that’s Clee (the Blond Lady).”
“She’s so happy to see you—oh, she’s running (Clee).”
“Yeah.”
I'm pretty sure it's Cheryl running. They express concern because she's too old to be running in the airport. And Clee is so passive with Jack in their last encounters that it's pretty hard to believe she'd actually choose to run to him.
But thematically, does that make sense? The Glee running reading suggests that the two characters are simply happier versions of themselves. Cheryl is passive and maternal, Clee is aggressive and short sighted. Together the two of them, eventually, find happiness raising Jack. The other reading, Cheryl running, is a total personality flip. What's the idea there? That Cheryl needs to become Clee and Clee needs to become Cheryl to be happy? I just don't this is supported by the rest of the book.
I should say that, upon rereading it I'm convinced that there's no "right" answer. July wrote it intentionally unclear.
Clee was pretty clearly uninterested in "raising Jack," which is why he was surprised to see her there, and which would also be why she wouldn't run to him. I just don't think it fits in her "barely give a shit about anything" outlook to be running to Jack. But yeah, I think July purposely incorporated an air of dreamlike ambiguity there.
Also, the fact that July mentions in the earlier chapter that Cheryl would be the one running to an older Jack and the scene is supported by the same words and set up as that fantasy kind of supports that it is Cheryls and has come true.
Honestly I had to re-read this about ten times and was initially angry at the author for being so ambiguous, but I think I understand now what is going on. ----It seems that somewhere in the future while Cheryl raised Jack alone her and Clee had reached a sort of friendship or relationship and I assume that Clee probably had her own life but occasionally would see Jack, but Cheryl was his real mother and raised him. This scene is in the future and obviously Cheryl shared her dream of going to China with Jack while he was growing up and when he got older it looks like perhaps he moved there. He must have been gone for quite some time because Clee is there and Cheryl can barely contain her excitement. I dont think Clee doesnt run because she is indifferent to Jack, I think she does it out of respect for Cheryl, Clee realizs Cheryl is his caretaker/mother and did all the hard work over the years so she lets Cheryl run to him and have her moment with him and takes a stand back becasue she knows he is really not her child. It is a little fantasy/hazy the epilogue but that is how Cheryl thinks, it seems everything worked out in the end for everybody. Hope this makes sense.
