Futility and Reality

The conclusion of The Book of Not was a bit jarring for me, as I imagine it was for the rest of you. It seems as though the entire purpose of showcasing Tambu's hard work throughout the novel served only to further sharpen the sting of the injustice dealt to her. While no one likes to see the protagonist of the novel so utterly defeated the way Tambu was, I did appreciate the honesty of it. In most novels, you expect to see the bad guys lose, the good guys win, and everything to work out in the end. However, The Book of Not serves a different purpose, which is to show that the good guys don't always win; indeed, it throws into question the idea of who the good guys in this novel really are. There are some that are definitely worse than others (Ms. Plato comes to mind), but is anyone in this novel truly and totally good? Ntombi becomes sympathetic towards the end of the novel, but still has a violent streak, Babamukuru sacrifices possibly the most out of anyone in this novel, but his reproachful method of family management was highlighted in the last book, and even Tambu herself, the hard worker who overcame amazing odds to do as well as she did, lacked the courage to right the wrongs dealt to her. I would say that one of my favorite aspects of this novel is that it is not afraid to show what can and does happens to people in real life, as opposed to having a fairytale ending.