Skip to main content

Fear in Ambiguity

Anny Lee's letter to Robert Cormier

Hudson letters069.jpg

Hudson letters070.jpg

In this letter, Anny Lee shares with Cormier her experience of reading After the First Death. She shares with the author how she felt his text was 'the weirdest, most confusing, and unique' book she ever read. Though she conveys how much she did not like the close analysis her class engaged in, she does say how interested she became in the characters and the plot.

Sally-Anne Whyatt's letter to Robert Cormier

In this hand-written letter, Sally-Anne shares with Cormier a number of quotes from After the First Death exploring the idea that Mark and Ben are the same character. She also asks a number of questions that are left obscured in the novel - having to do with the dream sequences. She poses specific questions with the goal of understanding the answers and better teaching her students. She closes with just a few questions about I Am the Cheese.

RELATED LINK:

In this article, "Endless fascination: In practice of novels without neat conclusions" from The Guardian (November 23, 2012), Lee Rourke makes a case for the fascination, intrigue, frustration, and engagement that comes from well-written novels with ambiguous endings.