Ch 13&14: Wait...that's it?

The House of Mirth
Edith Wharton
I would like to preface this blog by saying The House of Mirth is the first book I've read cover to cover during my highschool career.
 thank you Dwight (and thank you Chris Brown)


Lily knows her sleeping medication is dangerous, so she attempts to avoid it by sleeping away from home in a park. A woman by the name of Nettie Struther sees her and the park and wants to help her. She takes Lily back to her inviting home. This is the last glimmer of light for Lily, because the generosity of Mrs Struther was a delighted surprise for Miss Bart. She went home and received the inheritance from Mrs Peniston, she then began repaying her debt to Trenor. With her money all gone, all she wants now is sleep, but she needs the medication to obtain it. She wants to exceed the normal dosage, but even she questions herself, thinking could she "bear it--yes, she could bear it; but what strength would be left her the next day?" (Wharton 262). Miss Lily Bart had fallen from her graces, and overdosed on the medication and died in her sleep. Selden meant to go and visit Lily, but was greeted by Gerty who told him of the grave news. The book ends in two different senses. First of, Selden is confused by the unfinished check to Trenor, deepening the mystery surround Lily Bart. But, the book also ends with the two together, the way they always were meant to be. Money is a powerful drug, a drug that led Lily to overdose on a completely different drug.