It is hardly surprising that the ending of Na-dine Gordimer's July's People should have occasioned a fair amount of puzzlement. As Maureen Smales runs towards the helicopter, neither she nor the reader has any way of knowing 'whether it holds saviours or murderers; and—even if she were to have identified the markings—for whom.' And not knowing that, we are left uncertain what to make of the conclusion.
One impression readers may gain from the final pages of the novel is that they constitute what Russian Formalists called a 'zero ending', an ending in which the...
Source: Novels for Students, ©2013 Gale Cengage. All Rights Reserved. Full copyright.
(The entire page is 2390 words.)
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