Marion the literary sleuth! Watch out, Poirot!

In other news, re-read "Mackerel Sky" this weekend and came to a totally different conclusion about Julia's fate. Wondering what other readers have thought about that intriguingly ambiguous aspect of the story: Does she or doesn't she? My real feeling is that it doesn't really matter, one way or the other, and that's one of the story's great strengths: Handled less adeptly, this question would be the central focus, but other issues seem even more important -- literally, more important than life and death. You could, actually, come to any number of logical conclusions. It even occurred to me that perhaps Julia lives but her father, finally fulfilled in his relationship to her and to himself and to the world, does not survive the emotional devastation of his act. Many fascinating possibilities to ponder.
--Gene-o
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Gene ... Thank you for your kind words. How interesting to read your observation that there are larger questions than life and death in this story. I never thought of that, but must have felt it. I'm always trying to find the deepest possible reasons for everything. Sometimes they can't be found.
---- MB

That's the most intriguing aspect of the story: It seems like the reader should care first and foremost about whether Julia lives or dies, but her father's redemption (as a father, as a human being) was so much more important to me, and there is no question that he achieves that goal. The story can be read so many ways: that he was too late to make a difference in his daughter's life, OR that he was just in time to give his daughter what he had never really been able to give her before (as an adult), OR that all he was able to do was save himself but at least he did that much, OR that he died after saving himself (unwittingly gave his life for his daughter's?), OR they both lived, OR they both died ... even his final act could be viewed as tremendously selfless or in some ways selfish ... or some of both.

As a writer, you may or may not want the reader to draw a particular conclusion. But generally you really have no power to do that, once you have finished and published the story. (Unless you want to do like Whitman and continue revising your work endlessly until the end of your life.) You could post your own conclusions here but the story stands on its own, and I'll bet you're delighted to let the reader make his or her own decisions rather than tying everything up just so in a tidy package.

Maybe the story is even more ambiguous than you anticipated?
--Gene-o
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