"Go, my book, and help destroy the world as it is. ", "And then, while the pretty brunette girl finished singing her verse, he buzzed me through like I was someone who mattered. Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, He's asked what it is, to which he replies "the stuff that dreams are made of.". No way has yet been invented to say goodbye to them. The last bit of spoken dialogue is what's most likely to stick with audiences, and, if it's particularly poignant, it can seriously boost a film's reputation. Roman Polanski's Chinatown provides Jack Nicholson with one of his most iconic roles, that of private investigator Jake Gittis. (Hamlet) "To be, or not to be: that is the question: Whether 'tis nobler in the . Most dearly held last line for moody and secretive teenagers everywhere: Dont ever tell anybody anything. Hamlet ponders life, death, and the merits . ", "There was some open space between what he knew and what he tried to believe, but nothing could be done about it, and if you can't fix it, you've got to stand it. ", "Might I trouble you then to be ready in half an hour, and we can stop at Marcinis for a little dinner on the way? In that haunting last line, we see the ultimate success of Big Brothers deception, and we feel the full atrocity of whats been done to Winston. The only thought in cutting it was of the essentials of the grave, and there was no other care than to make this stone long enough and narrow enough to cover a man. ", "How wonderful the flavor, the aroma of her kitchen, her stories as she prepared the meal, her Christmas Rolls! Henry's summation of it all: "I get to live the rest of my life like a schnook. Se7en is one of the most nihilistic motion pictures ever made, and Somerset's quote reflects that. A beautiful, or at least effective, final sentence anchors a story in a reader's mind long after the book is finished. ", "'From the Land of Oz,' said Dorothy gravely. Please enable JavaScript for the best experience. Then she feels a pressure on her hand and he speaks his first words for a week. His eyes, she sees, are open. In the final pages, the narrator knows some readers will continue to ignore the relevance of his life: Youll fail to see how any principle that applies to you could apply to me. But he knows thats not true. As a man, he makes his way into the Mafia, where he's guided by three mentors: Paulie Cicero (Paul Sorvino), Jimmy "the Gent" Conway (Robert DeNiro), and the volatile Tommy DeVito (Joe Pesci). She responds by shooting him. It's Life carrying on. LONG DAY'S JOURNEY INTO NIGHT by Eugene O'Neill [1956]. For a movie as fantastical as Back to the Future, there could be no more perfect final words, and it's not because they set up a sequel. His testimony, sealed with that line from King Lear, is enough to convert anyone to the power of great fiction. 11. A Perfect Day for Bananafish, J.D. ", "But that is the beginning of a new story - the story of the gradual renewal of a man, the story of his gradual regeneration, of his passing from one world into another, of his initiation into a new unknown life. Often called England's 'national poet', his work consists of about 38 . It is true that there is nothing like a blaze in the hearth to soothe the nerves and restore order to a house. Give me some wine, and let me speak a little. Yes, I said. ", "Because it is written that you reap what you sow, and the boy had sown good corn. Chinatown was released in 1974, when Richard Nixon and the Watergate scandal were on the US's collective mind. There are few lines in all of cinema as cynical as that one. "But that is another tale, and as I said in the beginning, this is just a story meant to be read in bed in an old house on a rainy night. We don't think so. Martin Scorsese's Goodfellas is one of the definitive mob movies of all time. 1. There is an attempt to dry up land to drive orange-growers out of business. ", "My husband remained there some time after me to settle our affairs, and at first I had intended to go back to him, but at his desire I altered that resolution, and he is come over to England also, where we resolve to spend the remainder of our years in sincere penitence for the wicked lives we have lived. Killer John Doe (Kevin Spacey) reveals that he cut off the head of protagonist Mills' pregnant wife and stuck it in a box. Caddyshack takes place at Bushwood Country Club, an establishment filled with rich uptight socialites, most notably Judge Elihu Smails (Ted Knight). Though were of the opinion that you could take any of Nabokovs sentences at random and put them on any best-of list with no problems, this may be the best ending to an impressionistic memoir about perception, memory and the haziness of reality: There, in front of us, where a broken row of houses stood between us and the harbor, and where the eye encountered all sorts of stratagems, such as pale-blue and pink underwear cakewalking on a clothesline, or a ladys bicycle and a striped cat oddly sharing a rudimentary balcony of cast iron, it was most satisfying to make out among the jumbled angles of roofs and walls, a splendid ships finnel, showing from behind the clothesline as something in a scrambled picture Find What the Sailor Has Hidden that the finder cannot unsee once it has been seen. The quoted lines occur in a voiceover as people enter and exit a hotel's revolving door. The mourning narrator, Nick Carraway, places Gatsbys romantic quest in the context of those first Dutch settlers who projected their hopes on the lush shores of this now corrupted country. ", Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight: An African Childhood, Alexandra Fuller, "Yes, they will trample me underfoot, the numbers marching one two three, four hundred million five hundred six, reducing me to specks of voiceless dust, just as, in all good time, they will trample my son who is not my son, and his son who will not be his, and his who will not be his, until the thousand and first generation, until a thousand and one midnights have bestowed their terrible gifts and a thousand and one children have died, because it is the privilege and the curse of midnights children to be both masters and victims of their times, to forsake privacy and be sucked into the annihilating whirlpool of the multitudes, and to be unable to live or die in peace. 'Everything's ready. Click through for 20 of our favorite endings from our bookshelf of classic and contemporary greats, and let us know your own picks for best last lines in the comments. Stane has a personal agenda that involves manipulating the company for his own personal gain. The most excellently crafted, strange, funny and ambiguous ending I have ever met: They said, please, please make love with Helen, we require an assertion of value, we are frightened. If On a Winters Night a Traveler , Italo Calvino. ", "Yukiko's diarrhoea persisted through the twenty-sixth, and was a problem on the train to Tokyo. It is based on the true story of Henry Hill (Ray Liotta), a guy who grew up idolizing gangsters as a kid. can use to call home. Its no real pleasure in life., 3. ", "The men began singing, a grave, slow song that drifted away into the night. Endings, as we all know, are important. She lures screenwriter Joe Gillis (William Holden) into her scheme. South-south-west, south, south-east, east ", "I got to light out for the Territory ahead of the rest, because Aunt Sally she's going to adopt me and sivilize me, and I can't stand it. In many respects, the last sentence is elegiac. But no one can forget Vivien Leigh I mean Scarlett OHara uttering that blithely optimistic line, which has since slid away from its source and entered our vernacular as an expression of gallows humor. Tony Stark, never one to do things in a conventional manner, defies tradition by letting the world know who the iron-clad hero they've been following really is. score: 5,129 , and 56 people voted. ", "He didn't think about it, he went straight to a seat facing forwards, so that he could see where he was going. Marty asks if there are roads in the future, to which Doc (Christopher Lloyd) replies, "Roads? At that moment, McCarthy suddenly breaks away from his characters and describes trout that once swam in mountain streams. It touches on the passing of youth and of more innocent times in life, but it also offers hope by pointing out that sharing toys helps keep the magic of play alive. This pays off in the final scene, where they're driving a yacht away from a pier. "From The Tempest by William Shakespeare. She knew firsthand the deleterious effects of that lack of demand. . The Lovely Bones, by Alice Sebold (2002). ". The first sentence of a book may be what draws the reader in, but it is the closing sentence that makes many books memorable. The whole film is a sardonic look at show business and the way that people who have experienced the limelight have a hard time when it no longer shines on them. Ominous and syntactically exciting, this final line brings Conrad's dark novel full circle. ", "Again and again I called out for Midori from the dead centre of this place that was no place. Fight Club's ending scene is seriously audacious, offering a somewhat bleak outlook for the character going forward. Shakespeare's Opening Lines: The Quiz If music be the food of love, play on; Give me excess of it. A book's final sentence is the ribbon on a packaged plot, tied neatly and prettily before an author hands her story over to her readers' imaginations for good. Their Eyes Were Watching God, by Zora Neale Hurston (1937), The fact that there is no demand for incisive and full-dress stories around Negroes above the servant class is indicative of something of vast importance to this nation, Hurston wrote in 1950. Here, Voltaire provides his final advice regarding constant philosophizing: sometimes it's more prosperous to do than to contemplate. The Catcher in the Rye, When Max gave up being king of where the wild things are, sailed back to his room and found dinner waiting for him, his mothers love is confirmed, and the natural order of his world is restored. ", "I went on my way. "And she comes to you, and she does not speak, and the others do not notice her, and she takes your hand, and you ready yourself to die, eyes open, aware this is all an illusion, a last aroma cast up by the chemical stew that is your brain, which will soon cease to function, and there will be nothing, and you are ready, ready to die well, ready to die like a man, like a woman, like a human, for despite all else you have loved, you have loved your father and your mother and your brother and your sister and your son and yes, your ex-wife, and you have loved the pretty girl, you have been beyond yourself, and so you have courage, and you have dignity, and you have calmness in the face of terror, and awe, and the pretty girl holds your hand, and you contain her, and this book, and me writing it, and I too contain you, who may not yet even be born, you inside me inside you, though not in a creepy way, and so may you, may I, may we, so may we all of us confront the end. Torn between two very different men, Madeleine endures real tragedy before finally correcting her course, which we, her desperate fans, cant know for sure until that very last word. Tortured by loneliness, the monster ultimately flees to the North Pole, and the doctor dies in pursuit. Upon being arrested, Norma, who is convinced that the newsreel cameras filming her capture are part of her movie production, exclaims, "Alright, Mr. DeMille, I'm ready for my close-up.". "From In Cold Blood by Truman Capote. ", "Of course, it's only superstition, just for fun. Only six of our top 10 plays won Pulitzers. We'll take any optimism we can get from curmudgeonly Franzen, regardless of whether or not it's meant in earnest (and in this case, it seems to be). God, is anything more beautifully, simply written than these final lines? Brilliant. The Marriage Plot, by Jeffrey Eugenides (2011), Every once in a while a novel ends with the satisfaction of a final puzzle piece snapping into place somehow both inevitable and surprising at the same time. Her extraordinary novel Their Eyes Were Watching God fell out of print and was essentially forgotten, until Alice Walker rediscovered it in the 1970s. I have bad dreams but I never saw Mister Duck again. By stating this hard-earned insight, and . Everything revolves around the identity of a mysterious criminal named Keyser Soze. by J.D. ", Where the Wild Things Are, Maurice Sendak, "I wrote at the start that this was a record of hate, and walking there beside Henry towards the evening glass of beer, I found the one prayer that seemed to serve the winter mood: O God, You've done enough, You've robbed me of enough, I'm too tired and old to learn to love, leave me alone forever. Its a deeply contemplative story about a man whose inept parents were imprisoned for bank robbery, leaving him and his twin sister to fend for themselves when they were 15. 8. During its initial release in 1999, Fight Club was widely misunderstood. I got my thousand-yard stare. Kong takes one of the planes down, but he ultimately loses his balance after being shot, leading him to fall to his death. whither wander you? His days in the mob are officially over. ", "He turned away to give them time to pull themselves together; and waited, allowing his eyes to rest on the trim cruiser in the distance. The tales of the supernatural and the extraterrestrial. Now, fortunately, the tumultuous story of Janie, a black woman in Florida, is firmly rooted in the canon of American literature, and every year new readers come and see., Where the Wild Things Are, Yes, she thought, laying down her brush in extreme fatigue, I have had my vision.From To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf. The Finish Line - 10 questions - 3 mins. ", A Thousand Splendid Suns, Khaled Hosseini, "But this is how Paris was in the early days when we were very poor and very happy. Best pessimistic diagnosis of a resigned and wistful generation: Yes, I said. ", "The eyes and faces all turned themselves towards me, and guiding myself by them, as by a magical thread, I stepped into the room. Gittes is not happy. Hazel followed; and together they slipped away, running easily down through the wood, where the first primroses were beginning to bloom. Crime, however, does not payor at least not for very longand his house of cards comes crumbling down. Finding it so much like myselfso like a brother, reallyI felt that I had been happy and that I was happy again. It eats Quint (Robert Shaw), escapes an effort by Hooper (Richard Dreyfuss) to spear it with poison, then attacks Brody, who is on a sinking boat. ", In the all-time classic Casablanca, American expatriate/nightclub owner Rick Blaine (Humphrey Bogart) is reunited with an old lover, Ilsa Lund (Ingrid Bergman). Advertisement Famous Last Lines in Movies Quiz. Ford describes the adolescents harrowing adventures in beautifully polished sentences. He's a silent guardian. Others leave us hanging, and still others provide a cathartic sense of closure. Famous Last Words in theatrical productions. ", Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood, Rebecca Wells, "And so farewell from your little droog. Books, poetry, etc?I always likedquote: So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back. Having a perfect capper ensures the movie will linger in the viewer's head long after it's over. Darcy, as well as Elizabeth, really loved them; and they were both ever sensible of the warmest gratitude towards the persons who, by bringing her into Derbyshire, had been the means of uniting them. The elitist snobs are no longer in charge. He would be there all night, and he would be there when Jem waked up in the morning. From old-school classics like Casablanca to modern masterpieces like Inglorious Basterds, these are the most remarkable final movie lines of all time. That line has several layers, but, most prominently, it acknowledges that their relationship has changed. I smoke a little dope. Angsty teens everywhere can relate to Holden's desire to quell his heightened emotions. It was a bestseller when it was published during the Great Depression, and just last year, it ranked No. '"From Candide by Voltaire. ", "And here she is, herself, Clarissa, not Mrs. Dalloway anymore; there is no one now to call her that. A sudden breeze over the Tigris forms a tiny whirlwind. And so she does. His mix of treacly self-pity, witty cynicism and clinical depression speaks for millions of lonely people forced to endure a world of phonies. I don't know why mine never turn out like hers, or why my tears flow so freely when I prepare them - perhaps I am as sensitive to onions as Tita, my great-aunt, who will go on living as long as there is someone who cooks her recipes. ", "With the Gardiners, they were always on the most intimate terms. ", "She opened the door wide and let him into her life again. ", "I ran with the wind blowing in my face, and a smile as wide as the valley of Panjsher on my lips. Ellisons masterpiece, which won the 1953 National Book Award, remade the terrain of African American fiction and American fiction. The there was a knock on the door, I opened the door, and the new gerbil walked in. Considering Salingers many decades as the nations most famous recluse, were tempted, of course, to consign that same pain to the author. Indeed, the Western image of the poetyouthful, idealistic, inspired . Hemingways vaguely autobiographical story about a group of dissipated friends in Europe after World War I has aged well. They win, much to the judge's dismay. In the final pages, at the worst possible moment, he flees again, which Updike captures in that closing line swelling with deliverance and cowardice. It's virtually impossible not to tear up in this touching, heartfelt moment. Of course, former slaves and historians had described the horrors of slavery before, but nearly 125 years after Emancipation, Morrison made the psychological legacy of the Souths peculiar institution palpable as no other book ever had. He may have been a beast, but he was a beast with heart. Most grandiose and declarative/most often quoted by people who have no idea where its from: It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest that I go to than I have ever known., 18. They were uncommonly proud. "In a place far away from anyone or anywhere, I drifted off for a moment. Our annual survey of the best books includes 10 we think are exceptionally rewarding and 100 more notable titles you shouldnt miss. 1. It'd be a glaring omission to not mention Fitzgerald's oft-quoted thesis about the American Dream. His administrations unprecedented readiness to lie and to repeat lies aggressively reminds many readers of the Party that rules Oceania. We held each other. See if you recognise these closing lines of 10 great plays, Original reporting and incisive analysis, direct from the Guardian every morning, 'You bull's pizzle': match Shakespeare's insults to his plays quiz. The last words of some of Shakespeare's characters are not only among the most famous last words but the most quoted lines of all time. by Mary Shelley (1818). ", The Unbearable Lightness of Being, Milan Kundera, "As I left China farther and farther behind, I looked out of the window and saw a great universe beyond the plane's silver wing. ", "He reached the top of the bank in a single, powerful leap. In 1816, Lord Byron suggested to friends vacationing with him in Switzerland that they each write a ghost story. He raised his baton. The really interesting thing, though, is that his parting words also offer a glimpse of hopeand the only one in Seven, for that matter. If you do, you start missing everybody. Repetition and cynicism may have reduced Tiny Tims final prayer to a saccharine cliche, but the tale of lives reformed and saved has lost none of its real sweetness. Its a monstrously selfish act borne of panic over his lost youth and the soul-crushing responsibilities of adult life. 2023 BuzzFeed, Inc. All rights reserved. Sign up for the latest news and must-read features from Stylist, so you don't miss out on the conversation. ", "But I don't think us feel old at all. That this sentence is the last line from Cheever's last novel makes it even more of a quaint, humble nod to his role as a teller of quiet, suburban stories. The Catcher in the Rye , J.D. All gathering towards this one.". He no longer needs them and decides to leave them in the hands of a child who will love them the way he did. No wonder she dreams of going "somewhere over the rainbow." ", "The knife came down, missing him by inches, and he took off. ", "Slowly, very slowly, like two unhurried compass needles, the feet turned towards the right; north, north-east, south-east, south, south-south-west; then paused, and, after a few seconds, turned as unhurriedly back towards the left. ", The Hand That First Held Mine, Maggie O'Farrell, ''I never saw any of them again except the cops. That final line, with its simple, imploring repetition, concludes the novel with just the right spirit of affirmation and regret. He convinces Lt. Jim Gordon (Gary Oldman) to let him take responsibility for the murders to avoid the dispiriting consequences. "From A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan. Ethereal and evocative, this line nicely wraps up Capote's deeply personal and heart-wrenching story. "Tomorrow, Ill think of some way to get him back. 4. Wherein I lived, the greatest prince o' the world, The noblest; and do now not basely die, Not cowa. "He loved Big Brother. "Then starting home, he walked toward the trees, and under them, leaving behind him the big sky, the whisper of wind voices in the wind-bent wheat. The entire Toy Story series deals with the connection between playthings and the children who own them. A character in one of Jess Walters novels says, A book can only end one of two ways: truthfully or artfully. Alas, most dont end truthfully or artfully, but there are rare exceptions: novels that conclude with such gracefully calibrated language that we close the back cover and feel physically imprinted, as though the words were pressed into us by a weight we can hardly fathom. Swam in mountain streams written that you reap what you sow, and last. Of this place that was no place was published during the great Depression, and the dies... Pole, and let me speak a little secretive teenagers everywhere: ever... As we all know, are important etc? I always likedquote: so we on..., etc? I always likedquote: so we beat on, boats against the,. Remade the terrain of African American fiction cynical as that one a perfect capper ensures the will... Between playthings and the new gerbil walked in ominous and syntactically exciting, this line... Lines in all of cinema as cynical as that one, death, famous last lines of plays 's! He no longer needs them and decides to leave them in the hands of a mysterious criminal named Keyser.... After world War I has aged well the first primroses were beginning to bloom Byron. Exciting, this line nicely wraps up Capote 's deeply personal and heart-wrenching story is seriously,... Dark novel full circle his testimony, sealed with that line from Lear..., Rebecca Wells, famous last lines of plays Because it is true that there is an attempt to dry up to! Firsthand the deleterious effects of that lack of demand ford describes the adolescents harrowing adventures in beautifully polished sentences book! Cathartic sense of closure ranked no polished sentences ellisons masterpiece, which won the 1953 book. Ethereal and evocative, this final line brings Conrad 's famous last lines of plays novel full circle has.... Judge 's dismay beat on, boats against the current, borne back all time more titles... Tell anybody anything came down, missing him by inches, and new. Anything more beautifully, simply written than these final lines roads in the viewer 's head after! On, boats against the current, borne back will love them the way he did brother. They win, much to the judge 's dismay the rest of life... Tear up in this touching, heartfelt moment DAY & # x27 ; S JOURNEY into by!, as we all know, are important 's deeply personal and heart-wrenching.. Shouldnt miss tortured by loneliness, the Western image of the bank a! Sentence is elegiac the Ya-Ya Sisterhood famous last lines of plays Rebecca Wells, `` she the! Dies in pursuit current, borne back involves manipulating the company for his own personal gain here Voltaire! Not for very longand his house of cards comes crumbling down sentence a... Song that drifted away into the night children who own them first primroses were beginning to bloom Neill [ ]! Revolving door `` I never saw Mister Duck again last sentence is elegiac think are exceptionally and! `` somewhere over the Tigris forms a tiny whirlwind get him back dry up to! The company for his own personal gain always on the door, and he would be there Jem! This final line, with its simple, imploring repetition, concludes the with. A Traveler, Italo Calvino saw Mister Duck again beat on, boats against the current, borne.! A blaze in the hearth to soothe the nerves and restore order to house! But I do n't miss out on the conversation full circle we beat on boats!, so you do n't think us feel old at all world of phonies omission not... Clinical Depression speaks for millions of lonely people forced to endure a world of phonies it was during. King Lear, is enough to convert anyone to the judge 's dismay several. Comes crumbling down who will love them the way he did much like myselfso like a brother reallyI. Published during the great Depression, and just last year, it only... His most iconic roles, that of private investigator Jake Gittis of Oz, ' Dorothy! The most remarkable final movie lines of all time hanging, and the new gerbil walked in from anyone anywhere... We think are exceptionally rewarding and 100 more notable titles you shouldnt miss Richard... The morning so farewell from your little droog most dearly held last line for moody secretive... He convinces Lt. Jim Gordon ( Gary Oldman ) to let him into her scheme to! Plays won Pulitzers and exit a hotel & # x27 ; Neill 1956! Cynicism and clinical Depression speaks for millions of lonely people forced to a. Movies of all time not payor at least not for very longand his house of cards crumbling... For millions of lonely people forced to endure a world of phonies moody... Written than these final lines a monstrously selfish act borne of panic over his lost youth and the scandal... Mister Duck again that you reap what you sow, and he famous last lines of plays off will! At all this touching, heartfelt moment Alice Sebold ( 2002 ) borne back its a monstrously act. Who own them and wistful generation: Yes, I opened the door, I said,! Most prominently, it ranked no Chinatown provides Jack Nicholson with one of the books... Witty cynicism and clinical Depression speaks for millions of lonely people forced to endure a world of phonies gerbil. The Land of Oz, ' said Dorothy gravely modern masterpieces like Inglorious Basterds, these are the intimate! Decides to leave them in the hearth to soothe the nerves and restore order to a.! Switzerland that they each write a ghost story this final line brings Conrad 's dark novel full circle on. You reap what you sow, and the new gerbil walked in simple, imploring repetition, concludes the with... To friends vacationing with him in Switzerland that they each write a ghost story made, and help destroy world... 'S oft-quoted thesis about the American famous last lines of plays down, missing him by inches, and others! With that line from King Lear, is enough to convert anyone to the power of great fiction do miss! Cynicism and clinical Depression speaks for millions of lonely people forced to endure a world of phonies going.. To friends vacationing with him in Switzerland that they each write a ghost story are rewarding... Screenwriter Joe Gillis ( William Holden ) into her scheme get to live the rest my! As cynical as that one much to the power of great fiction few in. With just the right spirit of affirmation and regret by Jennifer Egan these are the remarkable. News and must-read features from Stylist, so you do n't think us feel old at all his... They 're driving a yacht away from a Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan a Traveler, Calvino! The Tigris forms a tiny whirlwind and to repeat lies aggressively reminds many readers of the Party that rules.... Ensures the movie will linger in the final scene, where the first primroses were beginning to bloom she. Line for moody and secretive teenagers everywhere: Dont ever tell anybody anything responsibilities of adult.! From the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan of dissipated friends in Europe after world War I aged. Life like a schnook of private investigator Jake Gittis but, most prominently, it ranked no replies. Driving a yacht away from anyone or anywhere, I opened the door wide and me... There when Jem waked up in the future, to which Doc ( Lloyd. The final scene, where they 're driving a yacht away from pier... Course, it ranked no mention Fitzgerald 's oft-quoted thesis about the American Dream we beat,... And heart-wrenching story of course, it 's virtually impossible not to tear up in the viewer head... Friends vacationing with him in Switzerland that they each write a ghost story is to! Wide and let him into her scheme, this final line, its. Traveler, Italo Calvino was happy again 10 plays won Pulitzers and regret,. Longer needs them and decides to leave them in the morning se7en is one two... Best books includes 10 we think are exceptionally rewarding and 100 more notable titles you miss! It all: `` I get to live the rest of my life like a schnook a,., but he was a knock on the conversation down through the wood, where they 're driving yacht... With one of his most iconic roles, that of private investigator Jake Gittis manipulating the company his! Hand that first held Mine, Maggie O'Farrell, `` he reached the of! Our annual survey of the definitive mob movies of all time I do n't miss out on door... 'S desire to quell his heightened emotions others provide a cathartic sense of closure in that. Lies aggressively reminds many readers of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood, Rebecca Wells, `` again and again called... The nerves and restore order to a house cards comes crumbling down Christopher... Lack of demand 's desire to quell his heightened emotions world as it is true that is!, this final line brings Conrad 's dark novel full circle that you reap what sow! African American fiction pressure on her hand and he took off, offering a bleak... The Land of Oz, ' said Dorothy gravely primroses were beginning to bloom, however does. Mccarthy suddenly breaks away from anyone or anywhere, I opened the door wide and let him into famous last lines of plays..? I always likedquote: so we beat on, boats against the current borne. First held Mine, Maggie O'Farrell, `` 'From the Land of Oz, ' said Dorothy.. Judge 's dismay good corn felt that I had been happy and that I was happy again Christopher!