I got all of that, but still found the ending unsatisfactorily out of left field. And that's because Letts has not properly prepared us for it. If there had been thematic talk at any point about ritual, about how some stories need to be "sacrificed" for the survival of the community at large -- if there had been any thematic preparation for this ending, when this ritual appears -- even if in direct tonal contrast to the rest of the play -- the audience would be more able to connect it to what preceded and leave the theater energized by the ending instead of confused by it.
