The last word of Underworld was "Peace", which obviously had some deeper meaning.
Here, however, the last words are "And when he came back to, he was flat on his back on the beach in the freezing sand, and it was raining out of a low sky, and the tide was out."
Not a very cheery scene really. At first, I found it interesting that Wallace decided to end with Gately and not one of the Incandenza's. But then I decided I knew most about Gately anyway- he was the most transparent character in the end. Or the character tha we know the most about. Most of the questions about Gately were resolved (unlike Hal and Orin, I thought, but maybe I missed something. always a possibility)
Anyway, what's up with this beach scene stuck at the end? Gately ends up by himself, alone, at the end, after being surrounded by people the entire book. Even when he was in the hospital he was having conversations or with other people. And the last sentence of the book finds him alone on a rainy beach. Interesting. I usually think that author's spend a lot of time on their last image (something readers "take away"). What made Wallace choose this?