An Ending or Beginning?

Having finally finished and read the very last page of White Castle I can honestly say I am thoroughly confused. But, I think that is the way it's supposed to be. I think we are supposed to end without any sort of concrete ending and instead be left alone to create own conclusions. The White Castle is less of a traditional novel and more of a tool for stimulating thought and ideas about philosophy, life and human nature. Throughout the text the characters, Hoja and the narrator, switch places at every interval and, in turn, the reader is constantly unsure of who is really telling the story. At some points we can be sure that it's the original narrator, sometimes it's Hoja and sometimes it seems as though someone totally unrelated is telling the story.

One of the main themes of White Castle is the idea behind knowledge and truth. The common man's quest in life is to gather the truth about the world around him. There is no way to obtain all the knowledge and truth of the universe and thus we have philosophy and faith, to counteract the unknown. Throughout the story each character is on a quest, literal and metaphorical, to find the truth about themselves, each other and the world around. Yet at the end he (Hoja, the narrator or someone else, we aren't really sure) abandons his search and settles for a peaceful garden with a family and a meager life. Perhaps "abandons" is the wrong word. Maybe he just accepts the fact that no man can acquire all knowledge and truth and the very concept of truth doesn't even exist. For what is truth? One of the great unanswerable questions favored by pseudo-intellectuals. Many times we must accept our situation in the fog. I that is what the narrator finally did and he was finally able to have a normal life.