Appreciative of the closure

The ending of Oliive Kitteridge, written by renowned author, Elizabeth Strout, left me feeling content. The novel followed the life of Olive Kitteridge and the many couples in Crosby, Maine intertwined in her life. Throughout the reading, I never quite felt at ease. Even in the most stable of relationships portrayed by Strout, she depicted flaws that led the relationship to dysfunction. For example, the relationship between Rebecca Brown and her boyfriend, David, was not a respectable one on the outside. With Strout’s use of dramatic irony, the reader can perceive that Rebecca still loves her previous beau, Jace. Rebecca even ordered a shirt for David that she realized she had truly ordered “for Jace” (247). Their relationship serves as a synechdoche for the majority of the relationships in this novel, which were depicted as dysfunctional. However, the ending poses a new claim, inconsistent with Strout’s views on love throughout the rest of the book. Strout concludes with the notion that a pair can work through their flaws and still live happily together. This claim is presented with the relationship of Olive and Jack Kennison. After the two lonely adults met by chance, they fell in love. Olive even feels guilt for not “[loving] Henry this way for many years” (269). Despite Olive’s apprehension towards Jack for “[voting] for a man who is lying to the country,” she learns to sacrifice her expectations for love. The happy relationship provides hope as well as closure to the conclusion of the book. Following all of the miserable relationships illustrated, Strout concludes her novel with a promising one. She writes to those who have been through hardship in love, advocating the possibility of being happy even amidst certain flaws.