The End of Something Summary and Analysis

One month to the day after the Marine barracks bombing, a man kills himself in the parking lot of Friedman's apartment building. Friedman discovers this is not the first individual to kill themselves in the parking lot. To Friedman, this represents the mood in Beirut at the time at the end of 1983. The mood is approaching desperation since the bombing of the Marine barracks has changed everything.

Beirut represents something to Arabs everywhere and this is the idea that the different factions and different Middle Eastern groups could live together and live together successfully. This is the dream that is dying in Beirut. This is what Friedman dubs the Levantine political idea. This is symbolized at the city center in Beirut where the different sects and groups have shops that co-exist next to one another...