Letter: Making sense of ‘Sopranos’ ending

Tuesday, June 19, 2007 | 6:56 a.m.

The ambiguous ending to the HBO series "The Sopranos " has caused quite a stir. A June 15 commentary by Maureen Dowd in the Las Vegas Sun compares the fall of Tony Soprano with that of British Prime Minister Tony Blair. Apparently neither got whacked as much as he deserved , according to Dowd. The Sun also printed on June 16 a cartoon from Toledo Blade cartoonist Kirk Walters picturing the writer of "The Sopranos" directing Shakespeare on how to write a play with an ambiguous ending.

Maureen Dowd makes a valid comparison between the fictional mob boss and Tony "The Poodle" Blair, and at least one "Sopranos" episode also showed the similarities between the mob and politicians. Perhaps Shakespeare would have created more mayhem for both Tonys. The Greek dramatists would have had them both whacked and fed to their children, but real life and modern fiction do not always work out that way.

Maybe George "The Decider" Bush and his poodle really will be smiled on in history. Maybe Bush will be called the greatest president ever, second to Ronald "The Gipper" Reagan. It depends on who writes the history.

The ending to "The Sopranos" is ambiguous, but ambiguity in literature means not that there is no answer but that there are many correct answers. Perhaps the series writer had written himself into a corner where there was no good resolution. Rather than to compare the ending with a Shakespeare play, "The Sopranos" might be better compared with the short story "The Lady or the Tiger," by Frank Stockton , in which the reader is asked to write the ending. The ending you write will tell more about you than about real life or art.

Jerry Bitts, Las Vegas