What happened to the LP at the end

[LifeSong]

I personally think the book had a rather unsatisfying ending, with what happened to the Lone Power and all. I know the LP is the root of all evil and what It was doing to Darryl was, well, Evil with a capital E, but Its fate was reflected in Nita's dreams, and it made me uncomfortable - the clown/tiger was still there, being mocked, unable to get out. I can't help feeling a little bad, but is that just because I'm used to redemptive endings?

~LifeSong

[dorotheia]

Eye for Eye

Yes -- the ending did give me pause when I first read it. The situation is still the same as the one in Nita's dreams. In a way. The difference is that Darryl's mind has been freed. In the end, the autism is what the LP is guarding / mocking / attacking, and it does not have a mind to experience whatever torture the LP inflicts on it. In other words, the autism has no sentience. It's not there to feel it. Whereas in the dreams Nita had, Darryl was in pain, and his autism was both feeding that pain and hampering him from finding a solution. Therefore, the LP has no hold on Darryl, but created a trap intended to be set for Darryl and trapped himself instead. It's ironic. The ultimate irony.

Should he realize, the LP's going to be really mad, but the trap is already sprung. I think the LP can stand it. It's only getting back what it did to Darryl, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, after all -- and it's not even being cruelly hunted down. That might actually make It bored enough to rethink some of Its choices. Or have some sympathy with Its victims. Take that frustration it was feeling and blow it up until It gets some more emotions... We hope. Even Esemeli said that part of Itself was a little aggressive. Think of this as time-out, which is just a small blip of eternity for the LP.

And if Darryl got his freedom by denying it to the LP, well, who wants It out there to wreak havoc? So, maybe not redemptive, but freeing -- but bittersweet.

[rick455]

Basically, the LP is trapped in Daryl's own personal hell. Poetic don't you think.

[LifeSong]

Yeah . . . a time-out for It . . . that makes more sense, to me it just felt like an unsatisfying ending at first but if the autism isn't feeling it, that makes a little more sense . . . LOL what if autism has sentience?? That would be so weird . . . *rambles on*

Also, I wonder if, being trapped with autism, It might be affected by the autism? An autistic Lone Power, that would be interesting. Wonder if the issue will come up again?

[anotherBob]

The way I read it was that the LP was the clown trapped on the bike, which it was in a way. This is pure innocence vs pure evil in the arena of pure innocence. The LP had no chance with Darryl. At no point was he ever in control and with Darryl giving the Lone Power his autism to play with for decades, still trapped in his powerful mind, the LP was the one stuck.

Bob