“The End”?

“The End”?

This Time You May Throw Things

This is a short blogpost because I am sincerely looking for other perspectives. It has recently come to my attention that novelists are putting “The End” on the last page of their novel. And I want to know why.

I’ll be honest; from my perception it’s pretty cringe to tack on “The End” at the end. I have a very visceral reaction of losing respect for the whole book sometimes when the last words are not the last words. I’m of the belief that “The End” is for children’s books, maybe novellas and novelettes, and probably graphic novels. And this is in general. I’m sure there could be some styles of novels written in which it would actually be a nice touch, but none of the ones I’ve read so far. Allow me to explain why.

For a full length novel, I don’t feel you should have to say the words “the end” to know it’s the end. And I always thought it was the author’s job to say it without using those words. I see authors all the time who are so picky and fickle and nervous about the opening lines of their book. They’ll backspace a thousand times and ask for feedback, but I never see anyone that concerned about the closing lines of their book. That’s like handing me a sandwich with one piece of bread; that’s not a sandwich and I don’t want that. And that’s why I’ve always worked just as hard–actually, probably harder–at my closing lines. You know what? I know I work harder at the closing lines. Because the opening lines, to me, are often to grip you. Make you keep reading. Set a scene and invite you into it. But the closing lines are supposed to make you feel something about everything that came before them. They’re supposed to remind you that you were invited into this world, and now you’re a part of it, and even though this is the last page, it’s going to live in you forever.

And when you consider it that way, doesn’t putting “The End” after those words feel diminishing and cheap? It would to me. But this is an open invitation to convince me otherwise. I’m only regarding arguments that apply to what we consdier “most novels”, not stylistic pieces.