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What Is The Significance Of The Final Passage In The Great Gatsby

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Great Expectations by Charles Dickens is an intriguing book about the life of a boy named Pip who is determined to make his way up the social ladder, and become a gentleman. These goals that Pip has for himself are a key factor in the overall meaning of this story. The ending passage, when Pip and his early life love interest, Estella, reunite provides a basis in which we can infer the ways that the author has shown ambiguity in imagery and dialogue. The ambiguity of the ending contributes to the overall meaning by the choice of wording and symbolism, such as, mist, shadows, and darkness to show a sense of uncertainty to whether or not Pip met his “great expectations”.
The first example of imagery is the mist that repeatedly makes an appearance throughout the book. Examples of mist show in the final passage when it states “a cold silvery mist veiled the afternoon, and the moon was not yet up to scatter it”, “the …show more content…

Pip states, “I work pretty hard for a sufficient living”. That implies that Pip has gone back almost, to how he started, a laborer. The dialogue also refers back to the uncertainty of whether Pip and Estella end up together. Estella seems to be fine with parting with Pip because she is happy they were able to meet again. She states, “Be as considerate and good to me as you were, and tell me we are friends.” Then Pip says, “We are friends,... And will continue friends apart.” This winds down the story, and leaves us unsure of what really happens.
To conclude, this ending passage gives us so much evidence of ambiguity in Great Expectations. The use of imagery like the mist, shadows, and darkness helps the overall meaning. The dialogue, Estella and Pip’s conversation and uncertainty, also contribute to main reason this book was written. We are not sure if Pip met his expectations, but we should keep his story in mind when we have our own goals. We should have goals, but sometimes we may overestimate our ability to reach those

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