How Does Under The Tulip Tree End?

Question

Trying to avoid spoilers but this historical fiction novel's finale just wrecked me emotionally—does anyone else feel the characters' endings fit the themes?

Karen Rife · Answer

Just for clarity, in 'Under the Tulip Tree' the protagonists get to solve the central mystery of the family's estate, and proceed from there. It was a really character-driven last section, and I thought it was very satisfying. Recently I finished 'Leaving in Full Bloom', where the last part of the story followed a single character deciding whether to remain in the past or to move ahead with her life. It was both very earned and very poignant in the way that it resolved for her.

Marcus · Answer

The ending of 'Under the Tulip Tree' leaves me with a heavy heart, long after I've closed the book. The end of the book for the main character of Under the Tulip Tree comes in a way that is both unexpected and inevitable. Forgiveness and self-discovery are the two main themes that are developed in the final chapters of the book and the tulip tree symbolizes the main character's journey throughout the story. I was especially touched by a quiet moment the author created where the characters finally confront their pasts under the tulip tree's branches. The imagery is so real that I could smell the damp earth and hear the leaves rustling in the gentle breeze.

The ways in which some relationships are mended while others fall apart was realistic, and this was really the crux of the novel. It was not going to be a perfect wrap-up, but a bittersweet, real conclusion to this woman’s life. The last page of this book had me sitting up in bed staring at the ceiling of my room reminiscing about many of the scenes from this novel. But most importantly, the last page showed the growth of the protagonist and how she finally found peace by leaving this town and carrying around the memory of a tulip tree and all that it had symbolized for her.

Theo · Answer

I really loved how Under the Tulip Tree ended. It was like the story was holding its breath the entire time and then slowly exhaled at the end. Instead of one big climactic scene, there were many little charged moments. There was the moment when the handwritten letter was read. There was the moment of half a smile on the face of one of the siblings that had been estranged. And then the ending with the tulip tree's shadow stretching across the field at dusk.

I really did not expect the story to end in such ambiguity though. We never get to find out if the artist’s work does get shown in a gallery and whether the town fully makes up with the artist or not. Instead we get to read about how people grow around loss like the scab on a scar grows. It is like life – messy and often unresolved but often also beautiful. I lent this to a friend and we spent hours afterwards discussing the last line of the story. Was it hopeful or resigned?

Ryder · Answer

'Under the Tulip Tree' ends quietly with a revolution. The main character doesn't get his wish in a perfectly-wrapped package, but instead is given something far better: control. He plants a sapling (from the original tulip tree) in his new city in the last chapter, and it's a really powerful metaphor for him. Instead of erasing the past, he's transplanting it and allowing it to grow up in a completely different way.

Supporting characters receive some attention as well in the closing chapters. The grandmother’s handwritten diary is read by the other characters. A young boy from a neighboring house draws a picture of the tree in his notebook. Loosening not a few knots, the novel’s end is uplifting. The silent main character of the Under the Tulip Tree, the tree itself, seems to be satisfied as well.

debby wong · Answer

I understand what you mean about Lillian/Frankie. I thought that the Lillian/Frankie thread was primarily to show how Frankie has grown to confront issues that previously she would have tried to avoid. The thread does not necessarily end with the conflict being resolved, but rather with Frankie having attempted to deal with it – an action that was inspired by Frankie’s observations of Lorena’s courage. I saw that Frankie’s attempt at talking with Lillian would not necessarily resolve the issues of prejudice, but that not speaking up would certainly do nothing to address them. It was a small way that the major theme of the book was applied to a very personal and individual level – and it worked for me.

David Hunter · Answer

Both storylines come to a close perfectly. Lorena finishes her oral history, an enormous task she had taken on. Frankie grows up, both personally and professionally. For a long time the Tulip Tree has been the symbol of this story, silently witnessing history unfold. In the last chapters of the book it reappears again and again. The two threads of the story come together at the end. The reader is left with the impression that Lorena’s struggles have come to an end, but the struggle to remember history is ongoing and Frankie is now part of that. The reader too can become a listener of history.

H. Linton · Answer

In the end, emotional truth is given priority over narrative convenience. There is no happy ending for either Lorena or Frankie. Lorena does not get to be reunited with her loved ones or to amass great fortune in her old age. Frankie does not become a successful writer or find romantic love. But both of them receive something far greater than either of those things would have been: each of them receives a deep and profound connection with the other person. Lorena has a witness to her life who respects her. Frankie has a moral compass that is true. The book ends with their exchange, unequal as it is in terms of historical experience, but equal in terms of human dignity. The ending is mature and thoughtful, a commentary on the past but also on the redemptive power of true human attention.

André Cruzal · Answer

Is there an epilogue for this story? I don't think so. Instead the story simply ends with Frankie coming to terms with herself. No "Five years later..." preview of a famous writer. The ending would have been cheapened by an attempt to quantify the impact that Frankie had. Some impacts are simply qualitative and we can see their effects in the choices that the writer makes from day to day. We don't need to imagine Frankie fighting for voting rights, or any of that. We simply need to believe that she has become a better person because she has learned to listen. That is enough.

How Does Under The Tulip Tree End?

8 Jawaban

Buku Terkait

After the True Heiress Dies

Her Bloom Isn’t Red Anymore

The Billionaire's Flower

In the Shadow of a Secret

Twisted fates of love

The Last Tulip Blooms Alone

Topik

Pertanyaan Terkait

Does 'Under the Oak Tree' have a happy ending?

How does Blossoms of the White Night end?

How does The Butterfly Lion end?

How does 'Fucked the World Tree' end?

How does 'The Priory of the Orange Tree' end?

How does 'The Butterfly Garden' end for the protagonist?

Who does Lucas end up with in Tree Hill?

What is the ending of Across the River and into the Trees explained?

How does the flowers are bait novel end?

How does When the Cranes Fly South end?