Response to Michael Meeropol’s Post
I was a bit confused by the student’s question, as well, because in class we discuss those scenes as examples of the generational consequences of injustice–essentially, the post-traumatic stress of having one’s parents executed in front of the world, which resulted in the orphaning of two small children. What would we expect of those children when they reach adulthood? Susan is a suicide victim, and Daniel mutilates and abuses his own family. I think the student would agree with you, Michael, that the novel ends in the spirit of repair and reconciliation–if not simple resignation–but I think she felt that there is an impulse toward violence that is an inevitable consequence of having destroyed the lives of the Isaacsons, so that even though Susan and Daniel have not taken vengeance on the outside world, they have instead essentially mutilated themselves.
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