Jack's Great Escape

The escape scene was definitely a huge release of suspense built up since the early sections of the novel.  Jack's concise but emotive narrative style is well-suited to the quick pace of the chapter.  There was some controversy concerning Jack's heroism in the escape, and to what extent was he just following a few orders from Ma.  While I do think Jack displayed some heroic control of his emotions, I didn't see the escape as Jack's climactic act of heroics.  Instead it was Jack's emergence as a possible heroic protagonist, just as he is also emerging into "the Outside".  Jack's maturity and intelligence make it easy to forget that he is merely five years old, and I think it's clear at this point (both through Jack's analytical skills and his fairly substantial education) that he will become a very unique character as he interacts with the new world he is now immersed in.

The novel's premise was quite heavy, but somehow the tone has always felt a little light.  Jack's dialogue is humorous and entertaining even in the darkest of moments, and his future seems open as the halfway mark of the novel approaches.  I suspect that Jack will encounter some emotional or psychological trauma along the way, but I feel the story could progress convincingly without the amount of heroic struggle I'm more accustomed to reading.  Jack is already an extreme character whose questions and observations provoke analysis of society as a whole, and I hope the author makes use of this throughout the novel.

Smithy as a Hero

Smithy's story is definitely a big departure from previous hero's journeys we've read, but in many ways it has also a fairly conventional premise in modern literature.  Smithy is a typical timid antihero, lacking confidence, a healthy body weight, and any direction in life.  Sometimes he says the wrong thing at the wrong time, but deep down he's a good guy that the reader has an easy time relating to.  I think these more modern hero narratives in particular can become cliche and simple, but McLarty writes the most convincing portrayal of this character possible.  Smithy is not the perfect narrator; often many details are left out, and certain undesirable details (such as his obsession with breasts) are included.  Rather than just have Smithy write his thoughts to us as every event unfolds, McLarty uses subtler, less organized phrases to convey Smithy's feelings in what I would say is a more realistic light.  He is quiet and unsure, not eloquent and professing.  

The transformation that Smithy makes is also less clear-cut than it could have been.  Sure, Smithy loses a large amount of weight, but he doesn't seem particularly proud, or even aware of the change for most of his journey.  The same is true of his previous addiction to alcohol and junk food.  Instead of a typical, all-encompassing psychological evolution, only some aspects of Smithy change.  His journey, and therefore his results, are very specific; Smithy comes to terms with his past and his primary change is his ability to live happily and peacefully.  McLarty's choice to use an alternating chapter sequence between Smithy's past and present keeps the reader focused on the protagonist's pains and possible resolutions.  Smithy certainly includes more details from his past, even though his present journey across the country seems a lot more compelling.

Ending of Memory of Running

In a lot of ways the ending of the novel is generic, and perhaps even cheesy, but yet it also feels logical and conclusive to me.  The ending is very sudden, and doesn't really seem to leave the reader with any idea of how Smithy's narrative will progress.  However, I find this to be very consistent with the prior events of the novel, and the plot direction as a whole.  From the outset, the journey was taken on a whim, unconsciously.  There was a simple goal in mind of retrieving Bethany's body, but it was clear that for Smithy it was an introspective, emotional and psychological journey more than anything.  For the novel to close as we see Smithy reach his physical destination, after rediscovering his past (physically and otherwise) and finding closure in it is therefore not unexpected.  Smithy does not give the reader any sense of the possibilities for his future because he himself does not have any interest in contemplating anything other than the present.  Smithy is content with his new beginning.

If you also interpreted the final scene with Norma as a hallucination, there's a lot less of that cheesy feeling, and all of the emotional and thematic importance to that scene is retained.  As the hallucination of Bethany that has been torturing him for years is finally freed, Smithy begins anew with his love for Norma, confronting his guilt and pain associated with seeing her disabled body.  The visual aspect of Smithy running alone on the beach to close the novel is also more appealing to me, as it emphasizes the personal, solitary aspect of the journey.  The final scene and the scene with Bethany's body are both missing a typical heroic monologue, which probably adds to the abrupt feel of the last chapter, but in many ways this final emotional revelation was already made, split up over previous chapters.  Smithy's last conversation with Bethany in the kitchen felt especially poignant and conclusive to me.