End Of Gilda Stories

The Gilda Stories ends in the year 2050, the Earth is dying and people are leaving to another planet. The story has spanned over a vast amount of time, beginning before the Civil War. By having the story cover such a huge amount of time it is possible to truly grasp the fact that the characters are immortal, living for so long and watching the world change around them so much. Gilda became a vampire during a time when there were not even cars and now lives in a time when space travel and living on other planets is not just possible it is reality.

The massive span of time and the inclusion of this sci-fi fantasy like future does not really take away from the story though, like it easily could have. By including this strange future it adds to the immortality aspect of the vampires. The story starts a hundred years before the 1990s (the decade the book was published) and continues on for another sixty years into the future. It sort of brings about an expanded look on things than if the story had ended in the 1990s. Also the world was not ending in the 1990s but who knows what will happen in the year 2050.

Gilda Post 4

The Gilda stories definitely ended different from how i thought it would. There were things i liked about the ending and things that i didn't like. One thing i like is how she wrote the book over 20 years ago and how she made many accurate predictions of the future. I think its cool to see people make predictions of the future and then read them and see which ones were right. I like how she predicted things like face-face communication (skype) and flying cars ( which are not out yet but in 30 years, who knows?) One thing i did not like about the ending is how it just leaves Gilda living and mainly unchanged. I feel that she should have followed in the footsteps of the original Gilda. The original Gilda felt that she had filled her purpose in life, and passed her name on to someone worthy and died. I would have wanted this Gilda to do the same. It would be interesting to see who she gave her name to.

One main theme for me that i got out of the novel was to not judge people who look to be outcasts just because their lifestyle is different and we do not understand it. This made me take a look at some people who i viewed as outcasts and think about how they were raised and their lifestyle growing up. I feel you should just view their way of things as different, and not wrong.

The GIlda Stories - Ch6 and morals

The most surprising part of chapter 6 was Gilda becoming a songwriter. Her song, as shown on page 201, is not specifically dedicated to a person. For all we know, it could be dedicated to multiple people. Based on the lyrics, it could be dedicated to anybody based on when in the story it could be sung. In the beginning it could have been dedicated to Bird, later maybe Savannah, Toya, Julius, Anthony, or even Effie. However, are we sure that Gilda wrote this song for one of her vampire friends or one of her human friends? No matter who it is for, we can determine from the lyrics that this is a song that Gilda wrote so she can express her feelings and what it is like to be a vampire. It is ok that she is telling her secret though because she is not telling her secret literally. When most people listen to a song they take the lyrics metaphorically and when people listen to it they will not automatically think that Gilda is a vampire. Other than telling people specifically, this is a way for Gilda to express how she feels so it is a little easier to keep her most precious secret.

However "different" this story is, Gomez present us with many morals. The fact that this story is about a black female vampire gives us the opportunity to challenge stereotypes. It shifts us from the typical and makes us think of things in different perspectives. She also stresses how people should be happy with their life and what they have. People should not be striving for more, such as immortality. Gilda's life is not as happy as it seems and she struggles through everyday. Everything is not all pretty sparkles and gold. So be happy with what you have. Your family, whether blood related or not, will be with you wherever you go, no matter the distance.

Bethany Davis (Post #4)

End of Gilda Stories

I feel that the book ended differently that I was expecting. I feel that should have ended with Gilda's true death, it would have created closure and left the readers feeling more satisfied with Gilda's life. Although I liked the book as a whole, the ending seemed like it was rushed and too fast paced in comparision to the rest of the eras of Gilda's life. By forcing science fiction as well as a role reversal, Gomez pulled, in my opinion, too many new themes into the minds of the readers. I understand that she may have left the ending so open so that she could write more stories about Gilda, but there are many other blank times throughout the books that she could fill in. I liked the role reversal between the humans and the vampires, but I felt that it was was slightly overlooked with the mention of off-worlders. I enjoy vampire classics, like Dracula, where the vampire seems all powerful so it was good to finally get to see Gilda use her power to overtake the hunters and to free herself. So all in all, a good book, but the ending was a little too open ended for me.

Post 4: End of Gilda

The ending that they gave us in the book left the reader a fantastic and absolutely wonderful gateway to continue the story of Gilda through their own imagination and in that respect it creates a powerful tool to continue their own personal journey with Gilda. The book takes you on a whirlwind of adventures with this curious woman who defies the stereotypes of your typical African-American and your typical vampire. The reader is able to live through the character as she goes through the ages, showing the problems in the life of a black woman who has survived every era of oppression in American history and the era of American prosperity in the future. She feels the pain of her contemporaries as well as the pain of her immortal family as she struggles to keep her identity secret, to keep her moral consciousness in check and to prevent danger from befalling anybody who she deems worthy to live. Through this character we are able to see and relate to this woman, as she journeys through the planets last days, as she runs from the people who try to kill her and her kind and as she realizes that she is free. this ending allowed the reader to create their own, making this book much more interesting despite its early connotations of typical female. lusty romance novel.

The End of Gilda

I believe that even though so much happened in the last two chapters of the book it was justifiable and realistic in its predictions as in all the other chapters of the book the technology and human race have not evolved as fast and as such the events in the book reflected this. Throughout the recent years technology has been shooting forward exponentially faster and that would probably continue to happen and the book also shows this and how it would affect an immortal.

While the ending of the book was vastly different than the beginning and better, I feel that it could have been expanded on a little bit more and continued with another, smaller chapter about 30 years later explaining what happened to the Earth, Gilda and the other vampires. I also feel that they could have explained better how Gilda was now safe from the hunters as it seems like they are relentless and would still find them at any place they went to on the world.

The Gilda Stories

The ending of the book was not how I had anticipated it to be.  While reading the book, I thought the perfect ending for the book would be if Gilda had passed on the legacy to the next Gilda, continuing the chain in the Gilda Stories.  Instead, the ending seemed too abrupt and seemed too open ended.  There were problems that were left unsolved--too many.  Although I understand the message that Gomez was trying to send to the reader, the way in which it was sent was not ideal. 

The main point to what Gomez was trying to send was that family is important, and that living without one, or trying to live completely independent of everyone is not healthy.  Gilda, finally, at the end of the book ends up in a place where she feels loved--by her family--even though the roles of vampires and humans have been reversed.  During the story, I feel that Gilda has definitely grown up, and she has learned this lesson over time through the many people that she has met and loved.  There were many people that Gilda has had to leave behind during her travels, and she knows that although it's sad for her to see them go, it's better for everyone in the long run. 

One point in the end that was important was that Nadine--Aurelia's descendant--came back at the end and Gilda felt reunited with that part of her life.  Otherwise, I believe that the ending was a little over the top because of all the new changes that had come about in 2050. 

Allison Weening, Post 4

The Gilda Stories Post 4

I feel that the ending to the Gilda stories was poor. In the last seventy years more happened to Gilda than all the previous years before. The pace of the events were rapid, and did not seem to fit the rest of the book. I did, however, like some of the predictions that Jewelle Gomez put in the future.

Overall, I enjoyed the book. It made you think about what life really means and how to make the most of it. It had a few lessons that i feel are applicable for all ages. It taught me to be careful what you wish for. Even though Gilda never wished for immortality, I feel it applies more to the readers. This book is also a good example of human realtionships and how we make choices to treat others.

Post Four: The Gilda Stories: Ending

I was really disappointed with the ending of the book; events seemed too sudden and then lacked any closure. In the third last chapter, Gilda moved to New Hampshire to seek shelter away from Samuel with Effie. Then she seeks Nadine, Aurelia's granddaughter but then hunters are after them. That, to me, seemed sudden and left me a bit confused. Also, there were new worlders because the world on Earth was coming to an end. Maybe it's because I'm not really a fan of the 'world coming to an end' theme. But everything seemed to dramatic especially since throughout most of the book, the action would take place within the last few pages of each chapter. I would have liked to know how it was that people/hunters/vampires were going to be able to survive on Earth if it was ending or how the new worlders were creating order on another planet. I'm not saying I wanted to see Gilda meet the final death but I hoped for something a little more than, "Gilda was no longer fleeing for her life" (252). How humans discovered vampires was another part that confused me. I just thought it was weird that they all of a sudden started to believe the rumors are true.

I will admit that I enjoyed the end of the book more than the beginning because of how hard it was to actually get into the book once all the details were established. Along the way, there were a lot of new characters so keeping track of them became kind of difficult, especially in NYC with Ayeesha and her group of friends.

Pam Kawalerski
Post #4

Gilda Stories post 3

As "The Gilda Stories" came to an end it seemed to be lackluster. The book as a whole was interesting and intriguing, however the last 2 chapters seemed to draw out unnecessary events that made the story turn away from its point and intent. I think Gomez could have wrote less about interventions and talking about "off worlders" and stuck with the story line more.

In just, There did not seem to be any closure in the ending. Although we do know Gilda survives and continues with her life of immortality, we don't know for how long. If the world is crumbling and becoming a scarce place of humanity, then wouldn't the vampires eventually die? I believe they would because there would be no way for them to continue feeding because there would be no more humans. I think Gomez could have concluded the book somehow with the fact maybe they did eventually go off world, even though it is an obscure science fiction twist to the story, but at least it is a conclusion where the vampires could continue with their lifestyle.
If not, maybe they died off because they did not want to leave their world? Gilda and her Immortal fiends could have died the ultimate death by giving themselves up because they fulfilled their life.

Over all it was a good book, I just think the ending could have used some work in bringing better closure to readers.

Scott Swan
Post #3

End of the Gilda Stories

The last couple of Chapters of the novel seemed to be almost like a different story from the beginning of the book. When I read it i was getting a different feeling from reading the last three chapters than I did with the beginning of the book. One reason might be due to the time period. In the beginning of the book being black was a major part of Gilda's life but maybe as time went on we saw that this had less to do with Gilda's character and in the end didn't have anything to do with it. It may also have to do with the setting and the fact that the book was set in the future.

I actually liked the ending of the book because it was a happy ending for Gilda. Every chapter before the last, Gilda was on the run and always in fear that someone was after her. However at the end of the book when all the humans leave Earth, it gives Gilda a chance to stop running and simply enjoy her family. I feel like Gomez is able to give some sort of closure for Gilda without killing her off.