A Surprise Ending

In the final chapters of The House of Mirth, Edith Wharton is able to sway the reader to sympathize with Lily. When Lily is approached by Nettie, an old acquaintance, a new light shines on her perspective. I believe that Nettie was introduced later on in the book to give the reader hope that Lily would find a way to make something of her life just as Nettie had. However, Lily still lacked the hope necessary to push forward. "But the terrible silence and emptiness seemed to symbolize her future- she felt as though the house, the street, the world were all empty, adn she alone left sentient in a lifeless universe" (Wharton, 261). Wharton wants us to decided for ourselves how Lily's future will play out. However, the end of Lily's life was closer than I had anticipated. Lily's death came as a shock to me as I was reading the novel. I thought that Selden would be able to profess his love to Lily, but time had just run out. Even though Lily was dead when Selden had arrived, he still knew that he was in love with Lily. Honestly, I think Lily and Selden were destined for each other and just had inopportune timing of finalizing the facts.