Comparisons

The last part of this book made me think back to Bread Givers, especially in the moment when Mona leaves home.  However, this book gave me a lot more satisfaction.  To me Mona is stronger when the confrontation happens and ultimately seems more successful.  Her mother and the old way of thinking has been left behind, and I think that, much like Sarah still had love for her father, this same love is shown at the end of the epilogue.  But I thought it was beautiful how Jen gives us the image of Mona's mother and then replaced it with Mona's own happy child, which to me signifies a new beginning and opportunity for Mona to raise her child with acceptance and love.

Also even though the twist with Seth being Sherman was pretty expected, I was happy when Mona found that closure.  This childhood love that stayed with her throughout the book and was always sparked again when he would reappear was finally revealed to be someone that she could relate to and who ultimately accepted her which is something that Sherman was never willing to do.  I think Seth was demonstrating to Mona that she could be whoever she wanted to be.  I think it's funny that Seth was all about free thinking and Mona was kind of fighting against that throughout the novel, but ultimately he wins her back through free thought and acceptance.

So my question is what do you think about the switching theme?  Did your feelings about the novel and the ideas portrayed in it change once you got to the end?