There is simply no end to the misery in sight when this novel concludes. Stoner's life is one of unseen emotional challenges, and the burdens that he carries on a daily basis are enough to make the reader tired just thinking of it, but in the end, Stoner manages to fulfill his destiny. The novel at the end of the book is a symbol for Stoner itself, but also it is a sign that Stoner managed to succeed. As a passionate reader, the mark of true mastery is simply that he wrote a beautiful novel about his life, and that's what makes him heroic.
In the context of heroism, the plot is more approachable. Instead of seeing a man who suffers terrible relationships and then dies, we see a man who was raised in a family he did not identify strongly with, but still loved. He is a hero of a broken family, and just because he moves on and finds a wife, that doesn't mean he isn't still shaped by his experience of childhood in his home. He finds a wife who doesn't care that much about him and doesn't understand him, so it's as if the troubles of his childhood continued on into his adulthood. But, instead of mean, selfish parents, now he has a mean, selfish wife.
That means that when he writes a single draft of his life's memoirs, that is his heroic victory, because it is a signal to the reader that even though his life was incredibly frustrating and lonely, it was still beautiful and worthwhile to live it. His book is a statement that difficult, painful, frustrating relationships can still be meaningful, beautiful, and in a roundabout way, loving.
