The ending of Dubus’ novel House of Sand and Fog is a climax of the plot, which the author achieves through masterful narrative shifting. The tragic death of Behrani’s son becomes a reason for the father to act decisively and express his pain, despair, and anger. The shift from first-person narration (from the perspective of different characters) to the third-person author’s narration and back allows the author to convey different subjective visions through the eyes of the characters.
The first-person narration that primarily conveys the inner state of the main character contributes to readers’ understanding of Behrani’s feelings and the logic behind his actions, as well as enhances the overall message of the novel.
The final chapters that describe the death of Behrani’s son and the colonel’s intention to kill his wife and himself are characterized by a unique narrative style that stands out. The author adds foreign words into Behrani’s narrative with an aim to emphasize his origin as the reason for alienation. Also, at the end of the novel, the author uses phrases like “the streets are full of American people” or “these American police” (Dubus 332-333). Such a technique enhances the detachment of Behrani from his American dream due to the realization of the impossibility of happiness without his son.
I am satisfied with the ending because such a turn of events and the emphasized emotional and philosophical lines complete the novel’s overall idea. As the title implies, the house made of sand as a symbol of something old represents Kathy’s dream to restore her lost life. The house of fog represents Behrani’s blurred and unreachable American dream that ultimately vanished. Although the author might be subjective due to the conveying of the inner world of an immigrant and a military, the overall message is rendered through powerful language and thought-through narration.
Work Cited
Dubus, Andre. House of Sand and Fog. WW Norton & Company, 2011.