I didnt like it. I thought Horetense should at least know she is raising Michael's baby. Did michael die? did i miss that part? Why would queenie stay married? she was quite unconventional and it seemed that would be something she would be up for. great show but crap ending
shareMichael didn't want to go back to Jamaica or Hortense, for that matter, at all. In the second part of the program, Michael returns to London to visit Queenie after the war but before Bernard returns home. After a weekend together (when Queenie gets preggers), he tells Queenie he's going to emigrate to Canada.
She does think about leaving London to go with Michael but he never asks her, and she didn't want to suggest it for fear he would say no. While Queenie was unconventional in her view of interracial relationships in that time period, I think she does care about Bernard enough not to want to leave him now that he's back and obviously needs her. And with Michael gone, she has no options.
Many Americans are unaware of the hardships in England after the war. Even five years later, the British economy was struggling. Queenie would have had a difficult time making it on her own if she did leave Bernard. And as she said in the program, Bernard had signed the house over to her when he enlisted. So the house was the only asset she had.
Bernard is a chump & an idiot.
shareBernard's a bit lost, I think. The TV program didn't go into his backstory, which might have made him a more sympathetic character. In the novel the reader learns that during the war in India, Singapore, wherever he was, he'd had a really bad time of it. He'd spent time in a lot of squalid, feverish places. By the time he got home, he felt half a man. And of course, he'd let his wife down by not coming home, and he knew it. I think he took out his shame, as much as anything, on the Jamaicans.
I thought part of the reason Queenie stays with him is that she had realized that she had married him primarily to escape going back home to the pig farm. He had given her a way out.
She understood what it was like to make a decision for the wrong reason, and the consequences one faces. That's also why she gave up her baby. She felt it was the best thing for him even if it broke HER heart.
Thanks for that bit of background information, timberbutte.
I found Bernard a sympathetic character even without reading the book. He was a product of a prejudiced age, and he HAD failed Queenie. But, despite these faults, he possessed a basic decency, and he loved his wife. He offered to bring up another man's child, humbly acknowledging that his neglect had contributed to the situation.
"You don't understand, Osgood. I'm a MAN!"
"Well, nobody's perfect!"
Some Like It Hot.
Hi supergran.
humbly acknowledging that his neglect had contributed to the situation.That was very moving.
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Thank you. I Still wished hortense knew about Michael and the baby.
shareI'm of two minds on her knowing about Michael. On the one hand, the show was weaker for it not being revealed (I mean, she's raising her adoptive brother/childhood love's child and she doesn't know it? Kinda screwy)... but on the other hand, things might have gotten a bit soap opera-ish if it had been revealed. How would Hortense have reacted to that bit of information? How would it effect her relationship with Gilbert? It was all kind of unnecessary, even if it did bother me that it didn't happen.
That being said, the ending indicates that Michael does know. We can imagine a scenario where he finds out his father's name and receives the picture from Queenie while inquiring into his genealogy and informing Hortense.
the ending indicates that Michael does know
No, you didn't miss it... Michael never knows who his father is, unless he would have mentioned it. Hortense, should never find out that the baby is Michael's.... True, it would tie everything up nicely, but then that would not be real. Michael never had the same feelings for Hortense, never! So it was very easy for him to never return. Hortense carried an unhealthy torch for her brother and fantasized too long for something that was never going to happen.
Still, the ending could have been better! A little background on young Michael would have been nice, so that we could see how they raised him. and to see Queenie watching him grow.
Thank you.
shareIf Michael is narrating the story, it should follow logically that he knows.
shareIf Michael is narrating the story, it should follow logically that he knows.
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