Discuss the effectiveness of the surprise ending. How does Carmichael differ from Chris Watters? Can it be argued that the surprise ending is also inevitable and appropriate?
The surprise ending was effective to an extent.... The story was structured to lead up to that point because we knew from the title that the girl was going to meet her husband. We were deliberately misled by the author, at first, to believe it was going to be Chris Watters. Then, we're introduced to the mailman, and we think, "Well, the pilot guy is gone, so this must be it." We were inevitably going to meet her husband, and it's appropriate that the story is structured in such a way that the story isn't merely what happens in the title. Instead, it becomes a story about overcoming a loss that is difficult to accept and then eventually finding happiness in someone else.
Carmichael is different from Chris Watters in the obvious--that he is a mailman, and Chris is a pilot. But also Carmichael is more proactive in his pursuit of Edie than is Chris. He calls her at the Peebleses' when she stops coming to fetch the mail. Chris, on the other hand, only ever waits around for Edie to come see him, at which point he takes advantage of her naivete, then makes empty promises.
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