A Gentleman in Moscow
question
The Ending: ONLY if you've read the book (spoilers)
Stacey
Nov 23, 2016 02:18PM
I am confused about the ending and need help figuring it out. Was Rostov just swinging by his childhood town to see his old home and pick up his gf before finally leaving the country to reunite with his "daughter"? Or...
Had Rostov never planned to leave Russia, just the Metropol?
As I reached those final pages I had an awful sense of foreboding that Rostov would chicken out. All Along it had been irritating to me that he never even tried to escape but, at the revelation of Viktor Stepanovich's role in the final plot I kind of flipped... hoped I was reading it wrong... knew I wasn't. I find it incredibly implausible that a man so full of the joy of living free would squander his one and only chance to get out of a nationwide prison, especially if it meant reuniting with his beloved "daughter." In staying, it would have only been a matter of time before he'd have been rounded up and put right back in his cage. I am hoping I missed something or got the wrong impression.
Thoughts about the ending? Please?
Had Rostov never planned to leave Russia, just the Metropol?
As I reached those final pages I had an awful sense of foreboding that Rostov would chicken out. All Along it had been irritating to me that he never even tried to escape but, at the revelation of Viktor Stepanovich's role in the final plot I kind of flipped... hoped I was reading it wrong... knew I wasn't. I find it incredibly implausible that a man so full of the joy of living free would squander his one and only chance to get out of a nationwide prison, especially if it meant reuniting with his beloved "daughter." In staying, it would have only been a matter of time before he'd have been rounded up and put right back in his cage. I am hoping I missed something or got the wrong impression.
Thoughts about the ending? Please?
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I think he wanted to see his old home one more time before leaving to join Sophia.
I came here looking to find answers- just finished the book myself. And now I am more torn with my thoughts for the end. I want him to leave. I can't see that he would have had Sofia make the escape if he didn't plan on, at least, trying to meet up with her. Yes, he may want freedom for her but he was big on friends and family- why persuade her to go when she is not going to have access- ever again- to anyone that she loves? Also, would she have been persuaded to leave if he wasn't coming. I believe that with her talent, he realized that , in his situation, and also with Russia being what it was, that he would not be able to see her much and she was his daughter. After all- when she is hurt- he doesn't hesitate to leave the hotel. It was worth the gamble to see that Sofia was not controlled and that he could see her grow and her life. I, also, think it would have been crazy not to leave if he was hanging out with Anna. Someone would recognize her with him. But she was a respected actress and, I assume, would be welcomed somewhere else with open arms and still be able to act. I'm not sure that Anna would have left with him though. Her other life seemed pretty good too.
The ending is true to the character of Count Rostov who retained his love and connection with his native country through all the years of his house arrest in the Hotel Metropole. Notwithstanding his determination to stage manage Sofia's defection it is not surprising that he did not select a life abroad for himself.
I think the suggestions in this post that the KGB would not have left things stand - miss the fact that the KGB could have enforced much harsher punishment - through all the years he remained at the Hotel. His life - in comparison to many Russians - was one of relative luxury and security. And the Russian officials who had cause to interact with him during his stay were as easily charmed as anyone else that he met.
There would have been a degree of official anger at Sofia's defection but my impression was that she had not yet quite entered the "Nureyev" category of stardom that would mean her defection implied Siberia for all who knew her.
And Rostov's own escape - given the length of time he was out of circulation - would scarcely raise a blip in the minds of a KGB that had bigger fish to fry. Far easier for them to write him off as another likely defection.
I think the suggestions in this post that the KGB would not have left things stand - miss the fact that the KGB could have enforced much harsher punishment - through all the years he remained at the Hotel. His life - in comparison to many Russians - was one of relative luxury and security. And the Russian officials who had cause to interact with him during his stay were as easily charmed as anyone else that he met.
There would have been a degree of official anger at Sofia's defection but my impression was that she had not yet quite entered the "Nureyev" category of stardom that would mean her defection implied Siberia for all who knew her.
And Rostov's own escape - given the length of time he was out of circulation - would scarcely raise a blip in the minds of a KGB that had bigger fish to fry. Far easier for them to write him off as another likely defection.
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