THEMES IN “THE SENSE OF AN ENDING”

Prepared By:- Jayati Thakar

Themes

Imperfection of ‘Memory’

Memory V/S History

Eros and Thanatos

Existentialism

Oedipus Rex (Oedipus Complex)

Imperfection of ‘Memory’

Narration = recalls memories (no sequence) Tony’s Memory Fragmentation of Memory

Search for ‘Sense’ At what extent it make sense to end

one’s own self?/ to commit suicide? Is there any logic?

Unreliable Narrator / Narration Technique

Memory V/S History

Unreliability of Memory “History is that certainty produced at

the point where the imperfection of memory meet the inadequacies of documentation.”- Julian Barnes

“What you End up remembering isn’t always the same as you have witnessed.” – Tony Webster

Eros and Thanatos

Eros (Life- Producing)

Thanatos (Death- Driven)

Concept Clarity

Eros and Thanatos The Classical Freudian

psychoanalytic theory, the ‘death drive’ towards death and self-destruction. (Wikipedia)

Just for knowledge: (Originally proposed by Sabina Spielrein in her paper ‘Destruction as the Cause of Coming Into Being’, later taken by Sigmund Freud in 1920 in ‘Beyond the Pleasure Principle’) (Wikipedia)

Opposition= Ego or Death instincts and Sexual or life instincts

The death drive (Thanatos) opposes Eros (the tendency towards survival, propagation, sex and other creative, life-producing drives. ) (Wikipedia)

Continuing...

Sex and Death Robson’s relationship and his

‘Suicide’ Adrian’s relationship and his ‘Suicide’

‘Triumph of Thanatos over Eros’

Existentialism Existentialism = Myth of Sisyphus,

nothingness, meaninglessness Existentialism V/S Eros and Thanatos Adrian’s Character (A scholar;

commits suicide) Concept of ‘Memory’ (Fragmented) Camus’ Philosophy Concept of ‘History’ Oedipus Complex

Camus’ Philosophy (Subverted concept of ‘Suicide) Suicide - “A deed of Bravery” (narrator) “Suicide was the only true philosophical question.” –

Camus “..any responsible, thinking individual should have

the right to reject this gift that had never been asked for…”

“..He had explain his reasoning: that life is a gift bestowed without anyone asking for it; that the thinking person has a philosophical duty to examine both the nature of life and the conditions it comes with; and that if this person decides to renounce this gift no one ask for, it is a moral and human duty to act on the consequences of their decision.”

Concept of ‘History’

“History isn’t lies of victors, as I once glibly assured Old Joe Hunt; I know that now. It’s more the memories of the survivors, most of whom are neither victorious or defeated.”

Connection with ‘Oedipus Rex’ Myth of “Oedipus Rex” Tragic investigation into past (Both

works have) Sexual bondage with “mother” Curses

(here) Tony’s role in Adrian’s suicide Tony’s latter to Adrian

(Article – A philosophical Suicide- Julian Barnes’ The Sense of an Ending)

Minor Themes:Class

Conflict

Meditation and Aging

Memory and

Despair

Mystery and search for solution/

reason

Personal Past

Works Cited

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_drive. (n.d.). Retrieved 03 01, 2017, from https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_drive

Markowetz, F. (June 8, 2012). A Philosophical Suicide- Julian Barnes' The Sense of an Ending. Books .