He and I went up to London. He had the advice of an eminent oculist; and he eventually recovered the sight of that one eye. He cannot now see very distinctly: he cannot read or write much; but he can find his way without being led by the hand: the sky is no longer a blank to him-the earth no longer a void. When his first-born was put into his arms, he could see that the boy had inherited his own eyes, as they once were-large, briliant, and black. On that occasion, he again, with a full heart, acknowledged that God had tempered judgement with mercy.[Jane Eyre, 476]
For eleven years I had not seen Joe or Biddy with my bodily eyes-though they had both been often before my fancy in the East-when, upon an evening in December, an hour or two after dark, I laid my hand softly on the latch of the old kitchen oor. I touched it so softly that I was not heard, and I looked in unseen. There, smoking his pipe in the old place by the kitchen firelight, as hale and as strong as ever, though a little grey, sat Joe; and there, fenced into the corner with Joe's leg, and sitting on my own little stool looking at the fire, was I again!
"We giv' him the name of Pip for your sake, dear old chap," said Joe, delighted when I took another stool by the child's side (but I did not rumple his hair), “and we hoped he might grow a little bit like you, and we think he do."
I thought so, too, and I took him out for a walk next morning, and we talked immensely, understanding one another to perfection. [Great Expectations, 448]
Despite the pain and horror and gloom and violence and despondence and injustice and strife that pervade these two novels, they both end on a positive note. Both authors conclude with a series of motifs that create a spark of hope for their reader. They both describe a triumphant marriage between two soulmates(for whom the reader has undoubtedly been rooting), though in Great Expectations it does not directly involve the protagonist. They both discuss the notion of a renewed sight, of the refreshed attitude that accompanies it, and of a significant self-knowledge. They both involve a child born unto parents who will assuredly love and nurture it to the best of their ability in a pure and wholesome provincial setting. They both imply that sins have been repented and forgiven and that God will shed his eternal blessings upon these couples and their families. Most characters of those who survive, seem to have achieved a sense of inner and outer peace that flavors the final chapter of each novel respectively.
Using a similar tone, both protagonists conclude with a brief account of how life looks for themselves and for the rest of our favorite characters. They deliver a final, first-person narrative gently, fondly and emotionally, leaving us with a sense of considerable completeness and contentment. They create a peaceful mood, full of reminiscence and relief. Pip, Joe, Biddy, Estella, Jane, Rochester and the two youngest additions, all have reason to be thankful and hopeful.
We can plainly hear the authors' voices coming through their respective heroes' words. Here, they trust us with their ethos: This ending is good and right they say, albeit not perfect. For we live in an imperfect world where people must learn about themselves, must experiment, must make mistakes and must learn to trust their emotional conscience, before they find happiness and harmony. Upon completion of both novels, we may be inclined to feel a strong connection with the author, believing we have heard their true voice and received their heartfelt message.
Both authors seem to follow the school of Emotionalist Moral Theory of the late eighteenth-century. Their writing proves their firm belief in sincere feeling, emotional reaction and imagination. That which John Irving says of Dickens in the Introduction to Great Expectations , “What he is most unafraid of is sentimentality-of anger, of passion, of emotionally and psychologically revealing himself; he is not self-protective; he is never careful “ exists as further evidence (p. xi).
Last modified 1996