Post 3: The Ending (spoiler alert)

Nora Mertz
Due: Wednesday, October 14th
Romano Per. 4

Book: The Monkey Wrench Gang
Author: Edward Abbey

The Monkey Wrench Gang is an exciting novel about three men (Doc Sarvis, “Seldom Seen” Smith, and George Washington Hayduke) and one woman (Bonnie Abzug) who sabotage construction sites and power plants in the Southwest desert in order to protest the destruction of the environment. Throughout the book their missions become increasingly more intense and they come close to capture many times.
For my third post, I am choosing to write about the book’s epilogue, and the purpose it serves, which seems only right considering my first post was about a riveting scene to start out the book.
During the beginning of the epilogue, Abbey goes on and on about all of the criminal charges that the four of them are being accused for, “assult with a deadly wepon, simple assault, obstructing justice, arson, aggravated arson, conspiracy, unlawful transportation and use of explosives, escape from official custody”… the list goes on and on. Why would the author include this long and seemingly useless list of felonies and misdemeanors? Because it shows that although the reader may have been rooting for these four throughout the book, one cannot ignore the huge and serious crimes they committed. In addition, for me, it was a way to bring the book to a close because for each of the felonies they listed, it made me think back to the time in the book that it happened, such as the explosives and the train, which I mentioned in my last blog post.
In addition to these lists of charges, the epilogue helps to bring the book to a close in a more positive way by describing everyones lives after the court case. Although two of Smith’s wives divorce him, (he is Mormon and practices Polygamy) he still remains with his wife Susan, starts a family, and lives next door to Bonnie and Doc, who are now married and starting a family of their own. Finally, in the final pages of the book, Hayduke appears on their doorstep, whom they thought was dead. This is a complete plot twist, and results in a very happy ending to the book, with the gang all back together again, despite everything that they have been through.
The ending outlined in the epilogue shows the two sides of the characters. On the one hand, the naming of all of the felonies they have been charged with shows how big of rule breakers they were, and how much damage they did. On the other hand, the ending shows that their characters are compassionate people, who ultimately do care about each other and want to live regular lives and start a family. It leaves the reading feeling satisfied with the balance between these two conflicting sides of the Monkey Wrench Gang members. ♥