End Chapters Discussion: Apples

[Stephanie]

If you knew that biting into a Waverley apple would reveal your future … would you bite? Why or why not?

This thread is appropriate for those who have finished reading the novel. Please be forewarned- there will be spoilers in this section.

[Eve_Morrigan]

I would not. Some things you just are not meant to know, like your time of death. That would really mess up the rest of my life if I knew that.

[suetu]

I also would not. To know the most important event of your life is a lose-lose scenario. If it's a terrible thing it looms ahead. If it's a wonderful thing (or worse, nothing special) you go throught the entire rest of your life KNOWING that's al there is. Why even wake up the next morning?

[butterflygirl]

I think Garth Brooks said it best:

And now I'm glad I didn't know
The way it all would end the way it all would go
Our lives are better left to chance I could have missed the pain
But I'd of had to miss the dance


So, no, I wouldn't bite the apple.

[smokeytimber]

If given the chance without any background as to the consequences, I would say absolutely! However, after reading the book and hearing some of the warnings and what happened after others had eaten the apples, I would definitely say no. Everyone at some point, I believe, wishes they knew what was going to happen next or wished they did so they could go back and change things, but that's what life is all about. How dull life would be if you knew the most important event that was going to happen during it. This book has really made me think about what we all experience in life; everyone is different, but we somehow all are so similar. Everyone has emotions and reactions to situations, but everyone handles things differently. I agree that Garth Brooks' lyrics put it best.

[suetu]

Your lyrics reminded me of another song that takes on the subject in an amusing way...

Artist: The Bobs
Song: My Husband Was A Weatherman
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(c) 1986 Gunnar Madsen and Richard Greene, Best of Breed Music (ASCAP)
All Rights Reserved. Used by Permission.
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My husband was a weatherman
He was right all the time
He knew when there'd be snow in Toledo
And freezing rain in Niagara Falls

My husband was a weatherman
The seventh son of a seventh son
On a first name basis with that old groundhog
Yes he was, he was the one

Oh, he had a reputation
As the master of prognostication
But it wasn't just the weather that he'd know
Oh, no!

He'd let me know when we got up
Just how our day would go:
"This morning we'll have fun
And then in the afternoon we'll have
A little argument, but hey, don't worry --
You'll win"

I know that when he'd tell me what would be
It was to save me from frustration
He'd say "Darling, let's eat out
Tonight you'll overcook the trout
I've phoned ahead for reservations"

My life no longer seemed my own
He knew more about me than me
He'd say "Honey, not tonight
You won't climax, oh, no
And we'd only have a fight"

I could not take it anymore
I packed my bags, and at the door
I said I didn't want to know
How every minute of my life would go
"I'll miss you, but I'm going away
Good-bye, my love"
He said "Hey, that's O.K. -- you'll be back"

[hpthatbme]

Knowing the consequences no I wouldn't eat an apple. If I didn't know it just depends on how curious I got, and how much I would want the tree to stop throwing apples at me. I do think that if the most important event in my life wasn't all that great or didn't turn out well it would be very upsetting. I was surprised that when the Waverly's threw the apples back at the tree it stopped throwing them towards each of them. It was comical to imagine Bay doing that!!!

[Pat_T]

I love the song lyrics here, and yes, am convinced that Claire did the right thing in burying all the apples as soon as they fell. Seeing such an event could be open to misinterpretation and cause nothing but worry, with tragic consequences. Even if the most important event were something really great, wouldn't knowing that take some of the fun and mystery out of life? Although I'd be very tempted, it's too risky.