The Ending of It Ends with Us

The Ending of It Ends with Us

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Lily goes into labor right after Ryle left for work. He turns around, helps her into the car and they go to the hospital. Lily has her baby and names her Emerson after Ryle’s brother. After Lily gives birth to a girl, she realizes that she does not want her baby to grow up witnessing abuse. She decides that she will divorce Ryle to break the pattern of domestic violence. She then says “It stops here. With me and you. It ends with us.” (Hence the tittle It Ends with Us). While reading this book I waited for Lily to leave Ryle. Even though I was expecting things to end between them when it happened, I was shocked. It was shocking to me because it was how the relationship ended and the things that Lily said to Ryle. It was very emotional and heartbreaking but yet such a beautiful ending.

In It Ends with Us the romance between Lily and Ryle appeared so perfect in the beginning. But throughout their relationship, it is shown how easily an individual changes, even the one closest to you. The first time Ryle hit Lily, he begged for forgiveness, promised it would never happen again and allowed Lily to comfort him, causing her to feel confused and hurt about the incident. I was shocked when this happened because it was very unexpected. Although in that moment when Ryle hit Lily, I knew it was not going to be the only time that he would hit her and that it was just the beginning. I was right because it did proceed to continue. The thing about relationships is that they are confusing. Love can lead to pain, excruciating pain, pain so unbearable you wonder how something that made you feel on top of the world at a point now makes you feel you would rather have never existed and that is what this book taught me. It taught me no matter how many times someone might claim they love you; you never know whether they are lying or not? I used to always wonder why people in abusive relationships always stayed, but this book showed me why. It showed me how hard it is leaving someone you think you love behind; it shows me a new perspective on love. 

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“We all have a limit. What we are willing to put up with before we break. When I married your father, I knew exactly what my limit was. But slowly… with every incident… my limit was pushed a little more. And a little more. The first time your father hit me, he was immediately sorry. He swore it would never happen again. The second time he hit me, he was even more sorry. The third time it happened, it was more than a hit. It was a beating. And every single time, I took him back. But the fourth time, it was only a slap. And when that happened, I felt relieved. I remember thinking, at least he did not beat me this time. This was not so bad.” (335)  (a conversation between Lily and her mother)

 

The Symbol in It Ends With Us

The Symbol in It Ends With Us

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Domestic abuse and violence is the symbol in It Ends With Us by Colleen Hoover. The protagonist Lily Bloom explains, “my whole life, I knew exactly what I would do if a man ever treated me the way my father treated my mother. It was simple. I would leave and it would never happen again” (242). Lily grew up in an abusive household, where her father repeatedly physically abused her mother. As a 23-year-old adult, she finds herself in the same situation as her mother once did. Lily goes through the trauma she suffered as a child once again, but this time around she is the one experiencing the physical abuse. She is unable to let go of her past experiences until she herself undergoes it and manages to break the cycle of domestic abuse. Lily tries to narrate her trauma by writing it down in the form of a diary, addressed to Ellen DeGeneres. However, she does not talk verbally to anyone about what she is going through. As she grows older, it can be argued that she tries to flee from her trauma, in the way she moves to Boston away from her parents. People say that “Children who have been exposed to family violence may have long-term physical, psychological and emotional effects. The longer family violence is experienced, the more harmful it is”. Tying this with It Ends With Us, Lily suffered from witnessing the abuse against her mother. Not only is she using expressive writing as a coping-mechanism, which I will explain further in the theory section, but she also suffers a similar fate as her mother when she herself finds an abusive partner. In the end, however, she manages to break the cycle of abuse by ending her relationship with Ryle, in contrast to her mother who lived with it throughout her entire marriage with Lily’s father. While reading this novel, I found myself in a position where I was asking myself “why doesn’t she just leave him? Why does she continue to stay?” As the story progressed, the answers became more clear. Lily loved Ryle so much she believed that he could change, as a mindset many victims adopt. It may seem easy to just pick up and go but you really do not know how hard it is until you find yourself in that position.

Point of View

Point of View

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In It Ends With Us Lily’s story is told from the first-person point of view. Consider “As I sit here with one foot on either side of the ledge, looking down from twelve stories above the streets of Boston, I can’t help to think about suicide” (3). Lily refers to herself as “I” indicating that she is telling her own story in her own words. This point of view is important as Lily transforms from a teenager who is angry with her mother for staying with an abusive spouse to a woman trying to determine how she has become caught up in a similar situation.

Through the use of the first-person point of view, the reader becomes emotionally invested in Lily and her story. The reader can sympathize with her loss of Atlas because almost everyone can remember the pain of the breakup with their first real love.

The Conflict in my Book

The Conflict in my Book

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What screams in It Ends With Us is the deep emotional conflict in which Lily ends up facing, making her question everything she knew about herself, life, and her parents, and here Colleen Hoover (author) was brilliant. However, Lily being caught-off-guard turned out to be the most important part of my reading experience, paralleling protagonist Lily Bloom’s foray into relationships and memories that spin her into a whirlwind of physical and emotional chaos: How did I get here? What do I do now? Is there any hope? We live with the protagonist each of her agonies and above all, we understand each of her doubts, something so necessary about the subject addressed. By putting ourselves in Lily’s shoes, we get closer to understanding other people in similar situations and we move away from judgments a little more which really prevents help in many of these cases. It’s nearly impossible to write about this novel without infringing upon that process of discovery, and most reviewers agree that it’s best to go into this one cold. In case I haven’t made it clear, this book is intense.

It Ends With Us Setting

It Ends With Us Setting

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In It Ends With Us the setting takes place in Plethora, Maine which is the small town Lily grows up and the place where she meets Atlas. When Lily graduates college she moves to Boston and starts her own floral business.

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“Lily has sought out a building with a good rooftop patio where she can see the stars and relax after the disastrous eulogy she gave for her father” (3-26). Lily Bloom has given a eulogy at her father’s funeral a few hours ago, in her home town Plethora, Maine. After she gave the eulogy she caught a flight back to Boston and hijacked the first roof she could find. Currently, she has decided to stand at the ledge of a twelve-story building to be alone with her thoughts.

 

Introduction to my Novel

Introduction to my Novel

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The novel I’m currently reading is called It Ends With Us by Colleen Hoover. I chose to read this novel because it’s a love story about choosing oneself over someone they love deeply. It’s about choosing to end a cycle of violence that hurts more people than it helps. Throughout reading the book it taught me how women in situations of domestic violence may feel torn between someone they took a vow for, and their own personal well-being and safety.

The opening line of the novel is “As I sit here with one foot on either side of the ledge, looking down from twelve stories above the streets of Boston, I can’t help to think about suicide.” This being the first line was confusing to the reader because it unclear on what was going on. Reading further I started to understand more on what was happening and what the first line meant.

Lily Bloom is the protagonist of the novel. Lily is a 23-year-old college graduate who has recently moved to Boston from Plethora, Maine. Lily is a redhead who speaks her mind. She is described by her mother as “brave and bold” but she is also compassionate.

It Ends With Us is not based on a true story, but is based on Colleen Hoover’s (author) mother and father, specifically inspired by her mother’s journey.

Introduction

Introduction

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Aanii Janelle n’dizhnikaaz. I am from a First Nations territory called Wiikwemikoong, which is located on Manitoulin Island. I am working on completing grade 10 and the classes I am currently taking this year are Math, Financial Accounting, English and History. I am looking forward to completing another year of school, hopefully passing all my classes, and getting good grades. Which means staying focused and working hard to accomplish this goal but also not to overwork myself to the point where I am stressing out. I am excited to see what this year will bring!  

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