The great thing about this final line is that it finds Tony Stark doing something few superheroes ever do, which publicly identifying himself. 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. Ominous and syntactically exciting, this final line brings Conrad's dark novel full circle. Hooper replies, "I can't imagine why. "'Excellently observed,' answered Candide; 'but we must cultivate our garden. A Christmas Carol, said, watching her hand. What Jack tells Marla at the end of the film underscores the primary idea behind the story which is that he has lost himself and can't quite find his way back. Her extraordinary novel Their Eyes Were Watching God fell out of print and was essentially forgotten, until Alice Walker rediscovered it in the 1970s. Odenigbo took her in his arms. ", "He turned out the light and went into Jem's room. Like Fitzgerald's final lines, Cather's provide a poignant thesis statement. The quoted lines occur in a voiceover as people enter and exit a hotel's revolving door. Perhaps the greatest failure of American literature, which is so bravely explicit about all other aspects of life, is its nervous avoidance of anything explicitly religious. by John Steinbeck (1939). Only months after it was published, Fitzgerald referred to Gatsby as a flop, and copies of the second printing were gathering dust in the publishers warehouse 15 years later when he died. Over the course of the movie, he sees evidence that the world can be a pretty horrible place. ", "Because it is written that you reap what you sow, and the boy had sown good corn. Caddyshack takes place at Bushwood Country Club, an establishment filled with rich uptight socialites, most notably Judge Elihu Smails (Ted Knight). ", "The white floodlight shines through the wispy tule and makes thin shadows. Best way to end a novel in the middle of a sentence/best phantom use of a word when we all know what it is but maybe we dont because its DFW so wed better not make any assumptions: You can trust me, R.V. This is a moment of much-needed levity after the nail-biting intensity of the final battle which everything else in Jaws skillfully builds toward. Tracing the very short career of one of England's greatest poets. Chinatown was released in 1974, when Richard Nixon and the Watergate scandal were on the US's collective mind. And us so happy. But, for movies, the opposite is often true. He may have been a beast, but he was a beast with heart. 'Everything's ready. Kong takes one of the planes down, but he ultimately loses his balance after being shot, leading him to fall to his death. Moments. "From Oh What a Paradise It Seems by John Cheever. "To be, or not to be: that is the question." "Hamlet". ", RELATED: 13 Best Shark Movies To Watch This Summer (That Aren't Jaws). An entire novel can be ruined by a disappointing ending, but by the same token, an entire novel can be made by a wonderful one. ", "I ran with the wind blowing in my face, and a smile as wide as the valley of Panjsher on my lips. They were uncommonly proud. Those words are meaningful because the entire theme of The Dark Knight is meaningful. I am invisible, the unnamed narrator says at the start, simply because people refuse to see me, but by the end, no one could ever ignore him. In Grand Hotel John Barrymore plays a baron and jewel thief, Wallace Beery plays a tycoon, Joan Crawford plays a stenographer, and Greta Garbo plays a ballerina who utters an even more famous line, "I want to be alone." 4. ", "Up out of the lampshade, startled by the overhead light, flew a large nocturnal butterfly that began circling the room. What early event in American history was the backdrop for Arthur Miller's play in which this line appears? Image: Warner Brothers/Getty Images . The above is only a portion (we wouldn't be able to fit all of it in this article), but we couldn't NOT include one of the longest last sentences in literature. After escaping a Broadway theater, the titular ape grabs Fay Wray's Ann and climbs up the Empire State Building. Weve already given you a rundown of our favorite opening lines in literature, but since every beginning needs an ending (and youd be surprised at how many works with awesome first lines also have awesome last lines or perhaps you wouldnt be surprised), we feel compelled to treat you to a list of our favorite last lines as well. The tales of the supernatural and the extraterrestrial. A fitting conclusion to a book about globalization, and its power to rapidly change the world. During its initial release in 1999, Fight Club was widely misunderstood. ", "And the ashes blew towards us with the salt wind from the sea. ", "The offing was barred by a black bank of clouds, and the tranquil waterway leading to the utmost ends of the earth flowed sombre under an overcast sky seemed to lead into the heart of an immense darkness. "From Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell. The opening sentence in a story is often considered the most important because it sets the tone for everything that's still to come. The Maltese Falcon has a plot that confuses a lot of viewers, at least on first viewing. written and illustrated by Maurice Sendak (1963). The late Kirk Douglas stars in Billy Wilder's film noir classic Ace in the Hole as Chuck Tatum, a disgraced newspaperman who's willing to do anything to get back on top. He convinces Lt. Jim Gordon (Gary Oldman) to let him take responsibility for the murders to avoid the dispiriting consequences. Goodfellas ends with him stuck in the kind of lifestyle he always hoped to avoid. 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. 5. Ford describes the adolescents harrowing adventures in beautifully polished sentences. (Hemingway condemned this section as cheating.) But that last lonely line is pure genius. His name, along with Shakespeare 's, is nearly synonymous with English verse. Gone With the Wind, by Margaret Mitchell (1936). II,1,368. From old-school classics like Casablanca to modern masterpieces like Inglorious Basterds, these are the most remarkable final movie lines of all time. Martin Scorsese's Goodfellas is one of the definitive mob movies of all time. ", "His body stirs beneath the sheets. When the applause dies down, he asks, Are there any questions? Those of us staring at a Supreme Court now tipping away from womens reproductive rights probably have several questions. The first sentence of a book may be what draws the reader in, but it is the closing sentence that makes many books memorable. Here's looking at you, kid. 3.66 avg rating 137,082 ratings. Fight Club's ending scene is seriously audacious, offering a somewhat bleak outlook for the character going forward. Lament nor sorrow at; but please your thoughts. Such is the effect of the last line of Eugenidess most recent novel, which seems in retrospect constructed to bring us directly to these three letters. If you do, you start missing everybody. Best closing lines in movies 1. His story about a reformed miser was an immediate bestseller, and, a few years later, he began offering public readings that attracted enormous crowds in England and America. I play video games. The children were excited. The father of the four March sisters is just a minor character in Louisa May Alcotts beloved Little Women (1868), but Geraldine Brooks put him at the center of her historical novel March, which won a Pulitzer Prize. The Road, by Cormac McCarthy (2006). 1. Theatre quiz: which Shakespeare character is dying? There are few lines in all of cinema as cynical as that one. "Go, my book, and help destroy the world as it is. Hamlet's dying 'The rest is silence,' is the perfect end of anything. You can feel the rawness as soon as it starts, as a. This pays off in the final scene, where they're driving a yacht away from a pier. Here are the 15 most highlighted Shakespeare quotes. But which Shakespearean drama opens with the line, "I wonder how the king escaped our hands?" Take our quiz and see how well you know your Shakespeare. Warning: This graphic requires JavaScript. The last line of DFW's first novel hints at what else he had in store. "From A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan. After ratting out Paulie and Jimmy, he enters the Witness Protection Program. In the movie's final minutes, the limping Verbal exits the police station, and viewers see his disability immediately disappear. It is based on the true story of Henry Hill (Ray Liotta), a guy who grew up idolizing gangsters as a kid. She lures screenwriter Joe Gillis (William Holden) into her scheme. If you do, you start missing everybody. They show the delusions of Norma Desmond, who remains a legend in her own mind. I smoke a little dope. Toy Story 3 (2010) "So Long, Partner." Toy Story 3 ends on a note that is both beautiful and sob-inducing. A beautiful, or at least effective, final sentence anchors a story in a reader's mind long after the book is finished. He wanted money and power and influence, and he had those things. John Huston's 1941 noir masterpiece The Maltese Falcon is the story of private detective Sam Spade (Humphrey Bogart), who is investigating a case involving a quest by multiple individuals to procure a falcon statue that is encrusted with jewels. 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. ", "Her lips move and a moment before the door splinters off its hinges she says, her voice strong and quiet, 'My name is Alisa. He's a silent guardian. Its a monstrously selfish act borne of panic over his lost youth and the soul-crushing responsibilities of adult life. Its desultory plot and muffled despair still feel strikingly modern. ", "I went on my way. Woody's final words, therefore, speak to the fact that things that were once vitally important get left behind later on in life. All kinds of spot-on criticisms have been leveled against the novel (and producer David Selznicks 1939 movie) for its romanticized racism. ", "And then we continued blissfully into this small but perfect piece of our forever. If not, I'll die your maid: to be your fellow. Salinger. "From Continental Drift by Russell Banks. Were you paying attention before the curtain fell? ", "There is grandeur in this view of life, with its several powers, having been originally breathed by the Creator into a few forms or into one; and that, whilst this planet has gone cycling on according to the fixed law of gravity, from so simple a beginning endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful have been, and are being evolved. 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. We arrive at the final page in a state of utter desolation. The strains of the piano and violin rose up weakly from below. The Broom of the System, David Foster Wallace. The really interesting thing, though, is that his parting words also offer a glimpse of hopeand the only one in Seven, for that matter. Alcott gives little indication of what horrors may have shaken Father during his fight for abolition, and Little Women ends with Mrs. March saying, Oh, my girls, however long you may live, I never can wish you a greater happiness than this. But by the time March returns to his happy home at the end of Brookss novel, we know him as the haunted survivor of carnage and a crushing spiritual crisis. "From Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell. Broom of the final battle which everything else in Jaws skillfully builds toward white floodlight through. His disability immediately disappear often true into this small but perfect piece of our forever die your maid: be! Carol, said, watching her hand dark novel full circle adventures beautifully... 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