In my Media & Identity class, we watched a survey of children where they were given the choice between a White doll and a Black doll. Race did play a major role into the perception of failure because of a favoring factor.

If that's the case, then he sort of fixed his shortcomings through that. Probably contemplating his errors and what he could do to improve himself. At this point he is probably looking back on what he has done throughout the book. At the very end of the book, we see Ben looking out of an airplane window. As far as the fixing of the shortcomings, I believe that they were in a way fixed. The ending is perfect and nothing should be changed. If the book had ended with Miko running back to Ben at the airport, then it would just become another cliche that no one would want to read. Shortcomings is different because we see a man being hit in the face with cold irony when he has done wrong himself. That may satisfy us as readers, but the method drifts away from reality and make the story mediocre. In most endings, we expect to see happy ending for the character despite what he/she has done. I think that the book ended perfectly the way it did. It's hard to tell if he's still just fuming, or if he's looking out that window actually thinking about his mistakes and maybe his faulty wiring. His character clearly has these things hardwired into him, so it's unrealistic that this incident with his girlfriend would change him and lead to a book to a clear and resolved note. He 'exists' before the book and continues to 'exist' after the last panel.

People don't generally just 'see the light' and change their ways at the flip of a switch (or upon confrontation-I know I don't.)īen is a man who is set in his ways. Things like this rarely happen in a contained period of time and completely resolve at is comes to a close. Because that's what real life is like generally, and the author seemed to be going for some form of realism. I noted in a previous comment to someone else that I thought it would end with him being confronted with his awfulness and narcissism and horribleness, and there wouldn't be a complete resolve.

Shortcomings comic