Journal #4 (The Last Line)

“Outside, he knew, the city still lay stretched, just an instant’s remove from the wildness through space at untenable speeds. He kissed Esther’s hand, then slipped quietly through the door and into his life.” (472). This is the last paragraph in the Origin of Species. When I was nearing the end of the book, I was beginning to struggle through it. Until I read the last few lines. Unlike a lot of books, the last paragraph in this one was clarifying and helpful in understanding the concept of the book in its entirety. When I read the last line of the book “slipped quietly through the door and into his life.” (472) I instantly understood the book more than I did even a mere few pages ago. What this line, and this paragraph did for me was help me realize the use of Esther’s character in the story of Alex’s life.

I began to think of the possibilities of Esther’s character in relation to Alex’s life. I came up with a couple options.

1. Esther is a physical manifestation of Alex’s conscience in the difficult time of his life.
2. Esther is Alex’s guardian angel.

1.Looking at the first option, I believe that Esther and Alex have a very deep connection. I realized this when I read the last paragraph. Essentially what happened is Alex was freed. He was let free of his conscience with Esther’s passing. No longer would he worry about what other people thought of him, or what his life was like, just the fact that he is who he is, and he is okay with that now. Without Esther’s character Alex never would have realized this in himself, he never would have gone to live with his son in the end, and he would live the same unhappy life, day after day. Esther helped him realize himself, what he truly wanted, and in the end – set him free.

2.Esther protected Alex. Not from harm of others, or terrible life threatening misdoings but she protected him from himself, from his thoughts of his life, and how it was going. Was it normal? Was it ok to live like this? Esther protected him from thinking that it was not ok to live his life. In the end, it was because of Esther that Alex moved on from his insecurities, and pursued his son and the life he truly wanted.

It’s crazy how much that one line clarified an entire part of the book for me, an essential part of the book. Usually the ending of books is a nice, simple conclusion to the story, but this one really gave me something to think about (what I mentioned above), and it seriously contributed to the story’s integrity.