Finale

Love is critical to the climax of Finale, but so is the question of reconciliation and forgiveness, especially in Scarlett’s arc. The conclusion of her story requires her to deal with the relationships between herself, her mother, Paradise, and her biological father, Gavriel. Through Scarlett’s attempts to comprehend her parents’ past, the novel explores how empathy and emotional insight become necessary, even for characters as deeply flawed and destructive as he proves himself to be.

The very essence of forgiveness lies in understanding, and Garber vividly illustrates this dynamic when Scarlett decides to travel back in time to observe Paradise as a young woman. Ostensibly, her goal is to better mimic the mannerisms of her estranged and now deceased mother, but her demeanor makes it clear that she also wishes to finally understand the woman who abandoned her and Tella. When Scarlett sees Paradise in the past, she is most deeply struck by the realization that her mother’s younger self is “bursting with love” (429) for Gavriel, whom she has yet to realize is one of the treacherous Fates. In this moment, Paradise finally becomes real in her daughter’s eyes, making Scarlett realize that she “had never really known her mother” (429). Being confronted with her mother’s humanity allows her to reframe the story of herself and her mother as one of sacrifice, not abandonment. While Paradise does flee from her daughter yet again, Scarlett finally gains a vital understanding of her mother’s past motives. Likewise, when she allows herself to see Paradise as a young, fallible woman, she realizes that her mother was making impossible choices. As a result of her journey, she loses her resentment for the shape of her own past, much of which stemmed from the consequences of Paradise’s actions. By understanding how love, fear, and sacrifice shaped her mother’s decisions, she comes to see the parallels between her mother and herself.

The second, more dangerous leg of Scarlett’s journey toward understanding comes when she confronts her father. Gavriel is a tyrant who manipulates emotions, murders without hesitation, and fears love because it is the only force that can destroy him, but Garber does not portray him as a static, unchanging villain. Instead, Finale shows that Gavriel’s very monstrosity stems from his fear of vulnerability. In the end, he becomes vulnerable when Scarlett dares to become vulnerable with him. However, Scarlett doesn’t become like Paradise, who loved him to her ruin. Instead, she learns to use love and empathy as a language and deliberately appeals to the sliver of humanity that remains within him, declaring, “You think love is a disease, but you’ve become the disease. Your fear of love is destroying you and everyone you touch” (444). Scarlett’s words are both weapons and mirrors that wound him deeply and force him to acknowledge the damage that he has caused. In this moment, through the force of Scarlett’s incisive empathy, Gavriel becomes more man than monster.

However, Finale’s approach to reconciliation and forgiveness does not promise happily-ever-afters, and Gavriel therefore dies as a man broken open by grief, while Paradise never fully reconnects with her daughters. In the present, she dies, and in the past, she runs away from Scarlett, who is left not with clarity but no true resolution to her years of anger and resentment over family mistakes long past. In this context, reconciliation can only be found by seeing someone as they truly are, accepting their complexity, and, where possible, offering empathy instead of vengeance.