At the end of the novel, Sydney Carton is executed at the guillotine along with many other French prisoners. Although Carton does not make a farewell speech, Dickens ends the novel with imagining what he might have said. This hypothetical farewell speech allows Carton to look ahead and envision a future where those he loves go on to honor and cherish his memory: “I see that I hold a sanctuary in their hearts, and in the hearts of their descendants.” The visionary speech provides a sense of closure and optimism to an otherwise tragic ending. Carton has led a difficult and lonely life, and dies in much the same condition. Likewise, the French Revolution is wreaking violent havoc without showing signs of achieving much progress. By having Carton predict a future where his sacrifice will allow those “for which I lay down my life [to be] peaceful, useful, prosperous, and happy” and where France will be restored to peace and order, the novel ends with a sense of optimism rather than crushing defeat.