The Poetics of the Unanswered

Writing the questions for this week’s discussion was a huge challenge for me.  The end of Dolce is rich in imagery and symbolism, and then there’s the entire plot that despite it’s slower pace then A Storm in June still manages to throw in several big plot twists.  All of these elements warrant a conversation.  By just looking at Nèmirovsky’s writing, it is obvious that she carefully chose every word, and that she constantly had a larger plan in mind for the direction of Suite Francaise. 

Of all these elements however, I am most intrigued by the ending of Dolce.  On the final page, she describes how the dirt on the ground is kicked up by the German regiment and is dust in the air.  The simple word “dust” carries so much baggage.  Dust is what we will all return to and despite the upbeat tone of Dolce, the imagery in the final sentence points to a foreboding third part.  Are the soldiers heading to their deaths?  Will Lucille and Bruno meet in the third, fourth, or fifth parts?  The ending leaves so many unanswered questions, and while this is frustrating, I can’t help but recognize how fitting the unintentional ending of Suite Francaise really is. 

World War II still holds many unanswered questions.  We think of all the people who died in Nazi extermination camps, on either side of the battlefield, in their homes while being oppressed or while fleeing…all of these lives are unanswered questions.  The end of World War II brought a close to the fighting, but it by no means brought closure.  The reader cannot possibly have gain closure from reading Suite Francaise as we are literally left in the dark on the happenings of three-fifths of the novel; all we are left with is the imagery of dust, and as dark and depressing as it sounds, I cannot think of a more fitting reminder of the atrocities of World War II.