Katherine Marting Post 3

Sue Monk Kidd chose to have an open ended ending for the novel for several reasons. First of all I do not see the ending as a cliffhanger though. The Secret Life of Bees ends in a fashion that seems like everything is all right and dandy but if you really think about it the reader does not know the true ending. Perhaps T- Ray changes his mind and comes back to get her or there is a tragedy and Lilly cannot stay in the pink house anymore. What happens then? Sue Monk Kidd left it open ended so that the reader can take the story to another level on his or her own. In the reader’s imagination, everything may go perfectly but it could also be the opposite. The open end also reflects true life, in that life is unpredictable. Sue is trying to give the reader the feeling of nonfiction, showing them how the future cannot be predicted and that this is only a portion of one person’s life.