How do modernist narratives typically end?

• A. End with a clearly resolved conclusion
• B. End with a moral ending
• C. End with a cliff-hanger
• D. End without a fixed resolution, inviting multiple possibilities

Answer: (D)

Modernist narratives tend to end without a fixed resolution, inviting multiple possibilities. This approach mirrors the focus on interior experience, fragmentation, and ambiguity that characterizes modernist writing. By finishing with unresolved questions, shifts in perspective, or ambiguous imagery, authors push readers to interpret meaning themselves rather than receive a tidy, single-answer conclusion. A clearly resolved ending would provide certainty and moral closure, which often runs counter to modernist aims. A moral ending imposes a single lesson, and a cliff-hanger implies continuation, whereas modernist endings typically suspend judgment and encourage open interpretation.