11/2/12
I was slightly disappointed by the end of the book. I had really hoped the ending would be far less...predictable. Honestly, I felt the last line of the book was extremely cliche, "To New York City. To my future. To my life." (380) I don't think that such a dull and common ending does the rest of the book justice. It's as if Donnelly was tired of writing and just wanted to finish the book so she ended with a boring, flat resolution.
However, I was pleasantly surprised when Royal gave Mattie her birthday present. In Mattie's own words, "I couldn't believe it. He might as well have said it was a diamond necklace." (334) It shows how far he was willing to go to make things work with Mattie. I think it's unfortunate that know one really understands Royal's motivation to marry Mattie though.
My favorite part of this section of the book is when Mattie flashes back to a time with her mother. She uses beautiful symbolism to describe how her mother used to prepare fresh strawberries for her family. She describes the strawberries by saying, "I think that what they tasted of was happiness." (301) She'd had a difficult life, and she thinks leaving will sole her problems, but I really do hope that everything works out for Mattie.
I found this recipe I forgot to add to my post:
ReplyDeletehttp://allrecipes.com/recipe/strawberry-cheesecake-bites/detail.aspx
Dear Mary,
ReplyDeleteI agree with you when you stated that the ending was very predictable. My guess was that Mattie would have to choose whether to stay home with Royal or attend college in New York. Anyways moving on to your opinion on the last line of the novel. Yes, this does seem a bit "cliche", but it leaves me wanting to know what happens next. Does Mattie like her new life in college? How does Royal feel after Mattie left? Is Mattie's father angry that Mattie decided to go to New York rather than stay home and work on the farm? Also, Royal does have a passion for Mattie. You can tell he truly loves her and will do anything to make things work with her. However, the part where Mattie reflects back about her mother. How many goods times they had together, especially the one where they prepare fresh strawberries for the family. Mattie does do a lot of reflecting back on her past life where she was with her mother. You can tell that Mattie really loved her mother and would do anything to see her once again. Therefore, my opinion toward the end of the novel is that it left me saying, "So............ what happens next?
Sincerely, Brandon
Dear Mary,
ReplyDeleteI disagree with you on the ending. I do think that it was predictable, but Jennifer added another twist when Mattie finally decides to go to college after deciding that she will stay home. The most unpredictable part was when Mattie finds out Chester killed Grace with a Tennis racket. Also, I think the book was a very thoughtful gift from Royal, but do you think he gave it to her for to repair Mattie's trust after he told her he wanted to buy Hubbard's land, because he truly loved her, or do you think he heard about Mattie's terrible cooking and wanted her to cook well for him?