The Ending To a Splendidly Hectic Novel: Wonder Boys

The section begins with Grady reading "The Love Parade”, James’s book. Intense feelings begin to arise within Grady after reading it. He says, “In my heart I knew, I was jealous of the kid: of his talent, although I had talent of my own; of his youth and energy; but mostly of his simply having finished a book. For all its flaws he could be proud of it” (250). This quote touches on a major theme in Wonder Boys, the theme of “longing for the past.” Sometimes individuals deeply cherish there past and remember all memories and long for something better, even if some past moments are not the best time in his or her life. Grady’s inability to complete the novel is a reflection of his connection with his youth. He cannot end the romance with “Wonder Boys” because it is all Grady has left. At the end of the novel, his real life romance is in shambles, his car is gone, his affair comes to light, and he stands a chance at losing his job. His unfinished novel is the only thing he really owns, his intellectual property.

However, he even loses that:

“Crabtree, as it turned out, had managed to prevent exactly seven pages from blowing out of the car. They were all impressed with the watermark of his Vibram soles, or pebbled like the surface of a basketball with a relief of asphalt; part of one page had been torn away. Two thousand six hundred and four pages--seven years of my life!—abandoned in the alley behind Kravnik’s Sporting Goods, with a run down Ford and three quarters of a dead snake. I shuffled through the remains, numb, wondering, a busted shareholder in the aftermath of a crash, clutching the sheaf of ink and rag paper that only an hour ago before had been all my fortune”(324).

Now, this scene was difficult to read, visualizing the remnants of James’s life fly away, away. However, there is hope left! The lucky number seven: seven days in a week (seven days of creation) and the seven colors in the color spectrum (ROY G BIV) can all be seen as signs for an optimistic future. This story is a coming of a middle-age story. Who says professor are wise and still don’t need to go through life changing experiences??

Essentially, through this hilariously witty narrative, what Chabon wishes for readers to take from his book is that sometimes “life sucks.” However, he conveys that having dreamed and failed is a more admirable to “suck” have thrown in the towel when the "going gets tough." He therefore sets Grady as a tragic hero in every sense of the word. In the end, Grady is profoundly wise and can finally put the puzzles of his life together.

It is also funny to take note of Chabon’s complex male relationships, and the coming of age of middle-aged men, which the author interprets as the shrugging off of youthful expectations of oneself for the acceptance of adult responsibility and relationship. It is an interesting side note that Chabon, also doesn’t shy away from gay, bisexual or ambiguous characters, something May Sarton did not do in Faithful are the Wounds.