I found the novel to be very sad. Lawrence Selden and Lily Bart could have lived together in happiness and love, but Lily had to accidentally overdose on her sleep medicine. The book was very well written. Wharton does an excellent job of portraying the feelings and inner conflicts of the characters. In addition, I love how she shifts the mood of Lily's thoughts when she thinks or talks to Selden to portray the love and attraction Lily has to him because she does not fully admit her love for Selden until the end of the novel. I got sucked into the parts where Lily talked with Selden and during the intense discussions Lily had with Gus Trenor and Rosedale. There were some parts that were boring, mostly when Wharton introduced Lily's past.
Although this book is a tragedy, the last line gives the novel a flare of happiness. "He knelt by the bed and bent over her, draining their last moment to it lees; and in the silence there passed between them the word which made all clear," (Wharton, 268). In the end they at least knew that they loved each other. I just wish they would have seen each other more often throughout the novel.
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