Umaba Gohil

1. Name : Umaba Gohil B
Semester :4
Roll No: 16
Class: M.A. Part 2
Paper No : 13 New Literature
Topic : Themes in “Sense Of Ending”
Email ID : umabagohil123@gmail.com
Submitted By : Smt S.B. Gardi,
Maharaja krishnakumarsinhji Bhavnagar
University,
Department Of English.

2. Themes in “Sense of Ending”
weakness of Memory
Event
Time
Memory
 The central theme of the
novel is weakness of
memory.
 Narrative also tries to give
effect of fragment memory.
 In the first part tony tells his
story of school days , all the
events are in order and
narrative has particular flow

3.  second section is much important, because there
is an event happen to tony and he becomes
nostalgic and narrates another event of his part.
 He tries to reevaluate his past. he narrates the
events of his past with different dimension and
which are not so important according to his
memory.
 In first part the narrator tells the story of 40 years
ago.
 Like, his letter to Adrian And veronica , he informs
when and why he wrote, which he did not narrated
in first section before 40 years ago. This suggests
that how memory is partial and fragmented.

4.  “ well , in one sense, I cant know what it is that I
don’t know.
That’s philosophically self evident”.
 Adrian's this sentence is heart of the novel.
Because of imperfection and weakness of
memory.
 how our partial memory mislead us!
 Though the novel, writer tries to prove human
memory and how it creates assumption on human
mind.

5. Eros and Thanatos
 Eros and Thanaton’s frauds' theory of two
instincts. Life instinct and the death instinct.
 Eros= love, procreation, peace and cooperation,
god, win situation.
 Thanatos= Hate, murder, game playing, war, devil.
 Suicide of the student Robson is put appropriately.
because of having sexual relationship with girl, he
has committed suicide.
 ‘Thanatons weans again’ Adrian spoke about
robsons case. but how it will turn in reality in
Adrian's life also. who is more
 intelligent,mature,serious became victim of the
same thing.

6. History
 With criticizing memory, the novel also questions
history.
 One of the central ideas the novel pointed is
unreliability of history.
 History is that certainty produced at the point
where the imperfections of memory meet the
inadequacies of documentation. “it clearly says
what we believe history as truth is unreliable.

7. Death
 Death plays a very strong defining role in the plot
of this novel.
 As well as being a central theme around which
much of the thought of Anthony Webster, the
narrator is centered.
 There are four specific deaths that each have an
impact on the novel.
 The death of robson and Adrian Finn center
around the sub theme of the suicide and human
value in life.

8. Existentialism
 With the Adrian's philosophical ideas , the novel
represents existentialist ideas.
 The well known ideas of Albert Camus are shown
in the novel.
 As Camus says, suicide was only true
philosophical question..
 Adrian as existentialist , commits suicide in very
young age. Even his way of killing himself is very
significant in philosophical sense .
 He did not kill himself with out of mind but at very
conscious mental state, he planned and
performed.

9. Minor Themes
 Class conflict
 Meditation and ageing
 Memory and despair
 Mystery and search for solution reasons
 Oedipus complex
 Personal past