From three perspectives, the last letter of a word, and notably its end-stroke, is fascinating. The end-stroke of the last letter, like the commencement, the t cross, and the punctuation, is often unconnected with the next word, giving the writer more leeway to move his pen in whatever direction he wants.
While the writer’s attention is mostly focused on the beginning of a word, he pays less attention to the writing of the word’s finish. As a result, his genuine character, the guy as he is rather than as he wishes to be or appear to be, will be far easier to discern from the last letter than from the first. Furthermore, a comparison of the first and last letters will reveal the disparity between the writer’s true nature and the image he seeks to project.
The analysis of the last letter is useful for recognizing disguised or faked writing. While the forger or the man who disguises his handwriting pays close attention to the more visible aspects of the writing, the areas that aren’t in the spotlight usually slip his notice. It should be noted, however, that if the angle of the writing is changed by turning it to the left, the end-stroke becomes proportionately shorter the greater the inclination of the angle to the left, assuming the quantity of pressure and degree of energy put into the writing remains constant.
The expanding end-stroke is also one of the most prominent markers of rapid writing. Because rapid writing is a sign of spontaneity, objectivity, and naturalness of behavior, this feature of the degree of end-stroke extension must also be considered.
The degree of speed is another indicator that allows the expert to spot the forger, as forged handwriting is typically drawn out slowly in comparison to the original, which is written more swiftly. Thus, instead of the natural flow and unbroken and spontaneous appearance of a swiftly written end-stroke, a longer end-stroke replicated by the forger will usually exhibit traces of quivering, breaks, and careful drawing beneath the glass.
There is one additional purely physiological aspect to the analysis of the last letter of the word. Writing is a hand movement that is initiated by motor activity on the left side of the brain, and the movement’s impact is monitored by the eyes. The rapidity of the writing thus reveals the writer’s impulses, whilst the regularity, rhythmic flow, and evenness of the writing reflect the writer’s level of control over his impulses. Of course, no other aspect of impulse control is as difficult to maintain as when it must be stopped and then released. When writing is halted at the end of one word and then resumed at the start of the next, this is exactly what happens. Irregularities, slips, and faults in the previous letter will thus be highly symptomatic of the writer’s coordination and control of his motions, showing mastery of his nervous impulses.
The most crucial aspect of the last letter’s end-stroke is that it indicates the writer’s social attitude. In writing, there is a symbolism of space. The writer always associates his current place in the world with the point reached by his moving pen. The past is to the left of this point: origin, house, mother, childhood, his personal and private world. The future, other men, and the social sphere are all to the right. When the writer reaches the end of a word and must continue, he must make a social decision. Is he going to stay still and not go back or forward? Will he return to his egotistical and introverted fool’s paradise? Or should he return home and hoard his loot like a successful gold digger? Is he able to find solace in either intellectual issues, religion, or mysticism (above) or sex, pleasure, and the inanimate material world (below)?
Will he simply fade out to avoid making a decision, or does he not perceive the decision or the gap between the sentences at all, because the universe to his mind is not divided but a one, indivisible dilemma from beginning to end? The way the end-stroke of the last letter of a word is produced might reveal not just a person’s social inclinations, but also his mood, temper, and habit.
The infantile and frank man will end a word differently than the mature and diplomatic man; the irritable, busy, and aggressive man will end a word differently than the weak, exhausted, and sluggish man; the obstinate, hard man will end a word differently than the undecided and reluctant man. The amount of space between two words can also reveal a lot about someone’s social history and habits, such as whether they are discerning, tactful, snobby, warm-hearted, or even impatient.
A person’s handwriting will almost never have a consistent way of concluding the last letter. If it does, the writer’s social viewpoint is highly clear-cut and decided. In other circumstances, you’ll need to determine how frequently one trend or another occurs, and then, after confirming the various meanings, you’ll be able to determine whether the individual in question has a changing attitude encompassing all of these trends.
The manner a person closes his words, lines, and manuscripts has a deeper meaning. If the writing begins clearly and then gets sloppy, if it begins slowly and then becomes faster or vice versa, if it begins regularly and then becomes irregular, if it begins in a rising line and then falls or vice versa, it provides you an idea of the writer’s working abilities. This cannot be shown with a single letter, but rather through a thorough examination of the entire manuscript.
Two elements, however, demand special attention and study: The last word and letter in the line are the first of them. The ability to maintain a nearly constant margin on the right-hand side of the page without splitting or compressing text demonstrates a high level of comprehension, quick assessment, and control of resources, time, and space. The person who is constantly compressing, splitting words, or dropping lines, on the other hand, lacks the attributes mentioned.
The person who, as shown in one of the following sketches, always tries to fill in the blank spaces by extending the end-stroke of the last word in the line, while not extending the end-strokes of other words, or even by making separate strokes (as in the spaces of a cheque), is motivated by an unconscious fear of allowing others to fill in the blank spaces. These are the people who meticulously lock and close every door, drawer, window, and file. This mindset is characterized by distrust and a fear of crime and fraud.
The individual who leaves a huge but generally even margin on the right-hand side of his page enjoys living large, is usually at a fairly high social level, and is unconcerned about saving money. The individual whose last word in the line occasionally near the edge of the page, while other times it is well in from the edge, is gloomy, fearful, and lacks decision and time and money economy.
The second component of this link that is intriguing is how a writer acts at the end of the page. If he continues to the bottom of the page, compressing words and lines to avoid turning the page until it is unavoidable, it suggests that the writer dislikes making decisions and is hesitant to begin a new chapter in his life. Such people are usually highly sentimental, and they wish to indulge much too lavishly in their sentiments, just as they compress far too much towards the bottom of a page.
There’s also the writer who, at the end of a manuscript, begins writing over the margins and empty spaces until no more space is available. If other signals go in the same way, it could imply a lack of decision or over-economy, but the most essential implication is that the writer doesn’t know when to stop and take a break, and has no set schedule. He’s the type of person who keeps talking even when the topic has been settled, continually recalling fresh details, and thus wastes his own and others’ time. Finally, the signature comes to an end. Many people end it with no elaboration of the last stroke, which is a display of culture and modesty. Others replicate and sometimes amplify the various end-stroke traits listed above.
Many signatures have additional elaboration of the end-strokes, including independent underlining strokes of various types. Underlining in general refers to the writer’s own personality being highlighted. It expresses happiness and joy if it is in the form of a wavy line. Complicated elaborations always imply ostentation or fake originality, a desire to impress, and, in certain cases, vulgarity. It also has a desire for anti-forgery security. A lassoo-like end-stroke can denote a variety of things, ranging from poetic preferences to imagination to shrewdness and cunning, as well as fixed thoughts and obsessions, depending on the way, degree, and taste with which the lassoo is swung, and in relation to other inclinations of the same nature.
A spider’s web enveloping the entire signature is an indication of a shrewd individual who wishes to protect himself from any unexpected approach from any direction, sitting like a spider in its web. Persecution mania is revealed in extreme cases, which must be confirmed by other indications.
A backwards end-stroke that crosses out the signature denotes extreme unhappiness and even suicidal impulses, whereas a full stop after the name denotes conventionality and distrust, especially of anyone who does not follow the writer’s class’s conventions.
If there are any different symbols in the signature, they are most usually seen at the end, just like the first letter. Classic examples are the signature of the pioneer pilot, Peugeot, which represents an aeroplane, and the signature of Marat, which portrays a rope and a dagger.
 | End-stroke that goes up and over the letter indicates distortion of facts |
 | End-stroke that goes up give hints of religious and mysticism |
 | End-stroke that goes down means hot temper, lack of patience, and unwillingness to negotiate or compromise |
 | End-stroke that goes up and ends in a point indicate deliberate flattery |
 | End-stroke that changes in angle and turning upright indicates abrupt, last-minute shift from readiness to be social to maintaining a distance from others |
 | Abrupt end-stroke suggests meanness, brusque social relationship severance |
 | Standard end stroke indicates normal interpersonal relationships |
 | Right extended end-stroke suggests generosity |
 | Extreme right extended end-stroke indicates generosity mixed with intolerance |
 | Down-stroke of last letter not reaching bottom line suggests concealment of facts, the man who was never a witness to anything, never admits anything, and is always afraid of being exposed in front of others |
 | Enlarging end strokes give hints of candor and childishness |
 | Diminishing end strokes suggests maturity and diplomatic skills |
 | End-stroke that goes up and left indicates patronage and protection spirit |
 | End-stroke that goes back and left suggests egotism |
 | Broadening end-stroke is associated with brutality |
 | End-stoke that goes down means refusal to approach others and defensiveness |
 | Vertical end stroke in G hints concentration and fatalism |
 | Weak and dropping down end-stroke suggest tiredness and weakness |
 | Enrolled end-stroked suggests greed and egotism |
 | End-stroke that goes up and forming a loop shows imagination and poetic taste |
 | Comb-like last letter indicates hot temper |
 | Last letter that extended to the end of the margin indicates distrust, unconscious fear that someone will fill the space, common in writing of people who lock every cupboard and door behind them |
 | Under-length of G in two loops indicate vanity and peculiar habits |
 | Triangular G-loop suggests domestic tyranny, frequently brought on by sexual disappointment |
 | Signature encircled by end-stroke indicates shrewdness and extreme cases persecution mania |
 | End-stroke that crosses capital letter means disappointment and critical attitude against the ego |
