Happy Endings /// Bug Olsen

 

           Throughout literature, authors utilize endings to leave their readers with a final message or emotion they want them to feel. How Dickens ends Bleak House is very reflective of his writing style and shows the amount of care he put into his works. He final few chapters summarize many of both the major and minor characters’ lives after the contents of the story, leaving few to no loose ends. This brings a nice resolution to the story, since many readers have been thoroughly confused at one point or another over the many characters and plotlines throughout the story.

            The final few chapters also bring closure for Esther as a narrator, since it describes how she has been writing to “an unknown friend” (chapter 67 pg. 767 line 13) and ends with her first-person point of view. I thought that ending the book mid-sentence with Esther saying “… without much beauty in me- even supposing-” (chapter 67 pg. 770 line 23) was very interesting as well and continually spoke to her character. Esther has previously admitted she tends to ramble, and this abrupt cut off here seems to show her forcefully restraining herself from mentioning anything else. She is a wealth of knowledge and cannot help but continually talk about all the wonderful things happening in her life. Esther has done a couple 180 from when the book began, with her alone, unloved, and fearful, to becoming loved and happy with many caring people around her. This was a very fitting end for her, and Dickens has built a long and deep connection between her and the readers, making it a very happy ending indeed.

I will comment on Elijah Mahn's and Samantha Tedder's posts. 

Comments

  1. Emma Kate PattersonNovember 15, 2021 at 11:29 PM

    I like how you pointed out that Dickens leaves few to no loose ends. This is satisfying to me in that it does not leave me wondering the resolution to a certain problem. This also makes for a great book and the Dickens does this in such a beautiful way.

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  2. Braylan StringfellowNovember 16, 2021 at 9:25 AM

    It was nice seeing in the last chapter how Dickens wrapped everything up for everyone. It reminds me of how the narrator in The Sandlot movie told us how everyone ends up. It was a relief to me that Dickens did do this because I hate it when a characters arc is never resolved.

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