Johnna’s answer to “I have a question about the shooting scene. I'm totally lost on what went wrong. Why?” > Likes and Comments
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Thanks for replying to my post. I went over the ending several times to see if I had missed something. As you mentioned the ending brought out many unanswered questions.
I answered the questions about the shooting in a comment off the original question, but as to the deaths at the end of the novel: we can be fairly certain that all of the original conspirators (Octavio, Calvin, Carlos, Charles, and Tony) are dead, plus Thomas Frank and Bill Davis. The two ambiguous deaths are the ones who made it to the hospital: Edwin and Orvil. It is not important to know whether or not they live because the violence itself is one of the themes, as is the web of family connections that their arrivals at the hospital pull together. However, you can assume that Orvil lives based on Opal's last narration, when her superstition/spiritual faith returns and she counts the swings of the door before listening to the doctor's news: "The doors come to rest on the number eight, and Opal breathes in deep, then lets out a sigh and looks up to see what the doctor has to say." Opal mentioned earlier in the novel that she finds even numbers luckier, and the number eight is one of her favourites. If you believe in her beliefs, then the news is good; if you disbelieve, then the news is bad.
Charlos had already stolen from Octavio once. Taking him out wasn't shocking at all.
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Donna
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Jul 11, 2018 07:12PM
Thanks for replying to my post. I went over the ending several times to see if I had missed something. As you mentioned the ending brought out many unanswered questions.
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I was listening to it via audiobook and wish I had taken the chance to listen to the last bit again, but my time was almost up. I still really enjoyed the book though.
I answered the questions about the shooting in a comment off the original question, but as to the deaths at the end of the novel: we can be fairly certain that all of the original conspirators (Octavio, Calvin, Carlos, Charles, and Tony) are dead, plus Thomas Frank and Bill Davis. The two ambiguous deaths are the ones who made it to the hospital: Edwin and Orvil. It is not important to know whether or not they live because the violence itself is one of the themes, as is the web of family connections that their arrivals at the hospital pull together. However, you can assume that Orvil lives based on Opal's last narration, when her superstition/spiritual faith returns and she counts the swings of the door before listening to the doctor's news: "The doors come to rest on the number eight, and Opal breathes in deep, then lets out a sigh and looks up to see what the doctor has to say." Opal mentioned earlier in the novel that she finds even numbers luckier, and the number eight is one of her favourites. If you believe in her beliefs, then the news is good; if you disbelieve, then the news is bad.
Charlos had already stolen from Octavio once. Taking him out wasn't shocking at all.
