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1-Page Summary of The Sense of An Ending
Overall Summary
The Sense of an Ending begins with a set of disjointed images—all memories that present-day Tony Webster has of his life. The primary image is the shiny inner wrist; it leads to thinking about cold bathwater and a locked door behind which he would hide from his parents as a child. Tony notes that time has formed and molded him, although he doesn’t understand it completely yet. He should begin at school since so much began there for him: “At least I know where to start….”
Tony describes the arrival of Adrian Finn to his all-boys London high school, where he forms a close-knit group of friends with Colin and Alex: Adrian will become the fourth, though he’ll remain at a slight distance from the others. Tony is surprised when Adrian takes his comment seriously rather than deflecting it ironically. He says that this shows that “Eros and Thanatos,” sex and love—which he will refer back to after the students learn that Robson, another student in the school, has killed himself. The rumor is that he did so once his girlfriend became pregnant. After discussing his possible reasons for doing so, they conclude that his action was unphilosophical and weak.
The boys feel like they’re in a holding pen, waiting for their lives to begin. Adrian is the only one who seems to have an interesting life—his parents are divorced, which isn’t as common where he lives—but he keeps much about his personal life secret. Tony remembers most how smart Adrian was in history class; when Old Joe Hunt asked what history was, Adrian explained that it’s the certainty that results from inadequate documentation meeting imperfect memory and used Robson’s suicide as an example.
Tony and Adrian go to different colleges. Tony goes to Bristol, where he meets his first girlfriend, Veronica. She’s a nice girl but intimidating with her love of poetry and sophisticated taste in music. He feels inferior around her because she seems more mature than him, especially when it comes to sex. One weekend, Veronica invites him over for the weekend to meet her family at Chislehurst. Tony is uncomfortable all weekend because they seem so much better off than he is and treat him as if they were putting on airs by inviting him into their home. The next morning he has an awkward conversation with Sarah Ford, who tells him not to let Veronica get away with too much or she’ll leave him behind socially like everyone else does after high school graduation (which makes Tony feel even more insecure).
Veronica and Tony continue dating during their second year, but they’re more sexually active. Veronica also asks where he sees the relationship going, which makes him uncomfortable because he prefers to live in the present and doesn’t like confrontation. He says that although work and Veronica took up most of his time at Bristol University, there are a few memories—particularly one night when he stayed up late with friends to see the Severn Bore, a wave that travels upstream on the River Severn for several miles every twenty or so years.
Tony’s next memory is of Veronica, after the two broke up. He describes a situation in which he essentially had no control over what happened. When he threw out the condom, Tony decided that he didn’t want to be with her anymore and tried to put her out of his life. One day, Adrian sent him a letter saying that he was dating Veronica and wanted to check in about how Tony felt about it. Tony slipped a jokey postcard into the mail immediately but later wrote an actual letter telling Adrian that she was manipulative and probably damaged.
Tony graduates and spends some time traveling the U.S., getting to know girls, but he returns when he receives a letter from Alex about Adrian’s suicide. They meet up and learn that Adrian left behind a letter that said everyone has an obligation to think philosophically about their lives, because they are given without anyone asking for them. If you decide not to live your life in this way, then you have an obligation to act upon the consequences of that choice. Tony feels like his death was tragic even as he admires Adrian’s clear thinking process. A year later they all get together with Colin and reminisce about Adrian while promising to meet again every year (but eventually lose touch).
