How Nadine Gordimer Ends Her Stories

How Nadine Gordimer Ends Her Stories

Nadine Gordimers stories make enormous demands upon the reader. Mostly

on the first reading it’s even hard to know what’s actually going on.

But gradually a densely concentrated image or an idea will develop

after reading over the story again and concentrating on some

particular parts, like for example the endings. Indeed you should pay

much attention to them. Even through nearly every of them are slightly

different, they indicate what you should think about and leave you

with a curious eagerness to find out more, to get to know what happens

next. In fact I am sure that Nadine Gordimer just wants us to make our

mind work and mull over the main meaning of the story, to uncover what

she wants to express with it.

In many cases, the conclusion of the story is what impresses you most.

Some writers don’t realise this fact and they destroy the whole piece

of work by an unsuitable ending. But Nadine Gordimer’s conclusions are

marvelous. If you would miss it you won’t be able to get the point of

the story because it encompasses much very important information. For

example in the story “An Intruder” one of the main characters goes

through a drastic change in last four lines. “She stood there wan,

almost ugly, really like some wretched pet monkey shivering in a cold

climate” (p. 374) This is a big contrary because throughout the whole

story she was the described like a “frail little marmoset” (p. 367)

and as “beautiful” (p.369). However she changes in the end “... she

was grown-up, now, suddenly, as some people are said to turn

white-haired overnight.” If the reader would miss this significant

change in her life, he probably would not find out what the story is

actually about...

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... try to argue that the story ends in a fortunate way

for Ella because she goes to Europe, and that’s what she was dreaming

about for so long. But we have to become aware of what preceded the

trip – a cruel murder, and we even don’t know if Ella is truly happy

or if she enjoys the trip at all.

A good way of making people think and wake their interests is to

irritate them, exactly in that way how Gordimer irritates her readers

with the endings. How could be Marie so blind and immature for ages

and than grow up “in a second”? How is it possible that a system is SO

unfair and unjustly like in case of Ella and Lena? And how does the

narrator of “Africa Emergent” even dare to make him innocent for

Elias’ death? Simply said, Nadine Gordimer is that kind of writer that

can give a true picture of what’s going on, and can make it very

interesting to the reader.