The ending of 'Hangsaman' is this surreal, haunting crescendo that lingers like fog. Natalie, our protagonist, has spiraled through isolation, delusions, and psychological unraveling at her college. The final scenes blur reality—she either kills her
imaginary friend/double Tony or merges with her, symbolizing self-destruction or rebirth. Shirley Jackson leaves it deliciously ambiguous, but the eerie quiet of Natalie walking away—or dissolving—
Into the Woods feels like a victory over her oppressive world, yet hollow. It’s not a clean resolution; it’s a psychological exhale, leaving you unsettled but weirdly satisfied.
What sticks with me is how Jackson mirrors Natalie’s fractured mind through the prose itself. The ending isn’t about answers—it’s about the act of surviving academia’s gendered violence by becoming something else entirely. Natalie’s fate could be tragic or freeing, and that duality is why I keep rereading it.