How Does Dickens End?

Thirteen: an unlucky number for most. The bad luck associated with this number has caused hotels to skip labeling the thirteenth floor as so and strikes even the most skeptical people with paranoia when their beloved friday is marked as such. This misfortune also hit Charles Dickens’ thirteenth novel, Great Expectations, due to its lack of a sufficient ending. While he received backlash for his original resolution, today’s readers are not too thrilled with the revised version either. As a result, a different and more realistic ending should be written. Originally, Pip was supposed to reconnect with the love of his life, Estella, on a carriage. After several years had passed and Estella remarried, Pip was no longer in love with her. However, Dickens hints that Estella showed signs of regret by having Pip explain “...she gave me the assurance that suffering had been stronger than Miss.Havisham’s teaching, and had given her a heart to understand what my heart used to be,” (Dickens 459). This ending, however, was extremely unsatisfying, …show more content…
While Pip did spontaneously decide that he wanted Biddy to “go through the world” (Dickens 438) with him once Estella was unavailable, this motive would not exist in the alternative ending. Instead, Pip would go home to personally thank Joe for paying off his debt. While doing so, Pip would reconnect with Biddy and naturally fall in love with her. This ending keeps Dickens’ novel a bildungsroman by including a happy ending in which the character grows, but more importantly, leaves the reader with an important message. While Pip’s life did not turn out to be what he had hoped for, he ended up with a reliable job and real love. This allows the reader to comprehend that the world is relative and life, no matter how messy, sorts itself out in the