SPOILER THREAD: The ending of The Kid

Several reviewers have expressed uncertainty about the ending of The Kid. I’m really interested in how others understood the ending. Here's my take:

Abdul has a break down at the end. He finally figures out the truth about his father and it drives him over the edge. His reaction is to turn to the kind of behavior he has in the past to cope with stress. He abuses a young child—the nephew (?) of one of the women in the dance troupe that has become his support network. (I may have some of the details wrong. I can’t bear to reread the book to check the accuracy of my recollections.) Overcome by despair, Abdul slashes his wrists and winds up in a psychiatric institution.

A few reviewers have noted the lack of positive characters in the book. There was one, I think—-Dr. See. He recognizes Abdul’s intelligence and potential and realizes he is in danger of being locked up in the mental hospital indefinitely. Dr. See’s report will determine Abdul’s future. He is about to leave the institution for a new job and decides he doesn’t want to leave the decision re Abdul to his replacement. He decides to take a chance and release Abdul immediately. The novel ends abruptly. We have no idea what will happen to Abdul upon his release.

Karen Bojar blogs about retirement life, feminist activism, grassroots politics and gardening at http://www.the-next-stage.com/

Denise 32 pts moderator

I don't think it's the acceptance of his parentage that did it. I think it's that he got caught acting out something he had been previously able to pretend he had not done. Does that make sense?

When faced with the truth about himself - not specifically where he came from, but his own actions, he could not handle it.

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c525600 5 pts

This is exactly what I thought (but what do I know?). :) Denise

c525600 Heh, well with Sapphire we don't always know, for sure, do we? That's part of the reason to discuss it. lol.

kbojar 6 pts

Denisec525600

I think learning about his father drove him over the edge; the fantasy of being rescued by his father (always imagined as some wonderful person) sustained him in tough times during his childhood and adolescence.

BUT I would have to read the relevant sections of the book to really disentangle all this and I don’t think I’m up to that.

kbojarc525600 I'm not convinced - and like you, I'm not able to physically pick up the book and re-read. I just cannot do it. (Which is sad since I don't have any problems re-reading pieces of Push.)

sassymonkey 18 pts moderator

I think I mostly agree with your interpretation. I'm not sure that Abdul really *accepted* the truth about his parentage and that's what drove him to molest his friend's nephew. I think it was partly just that it was the first time that he'd been alone with a child since he had been at St. Ailanthus School.

I think, also, that readers need to remember that Abdul's mental health is questionable. I often felt like there were two Abduls battling for supremacy in his head and in that case the "bad" one won.

The suicide attempt in the hospital... I haven't decided if I think that was despair or fear. And the psychiatric hospital wasn't actually a hospital, it was a research lab. I think?

As for Dr. See... I haven't decided what I think of him. I do think that he saw the potential in Abdul and didn't want to see him stuck in the lab for years (assuming it was a lab)... but i don't know that allowing him just to walk away was professionally responsible either. Yep, Abdul needed a break. But I didn't feel at the end that he was not going to abuse someone else in the future.

SPOILER THREAD: The ending of The Kid

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