Charlie Chaplin was a comedian, actor, director, producer, editor, composer and writer unlike the world had ever seen. He was a sentimental and sadistic performer who faired many dramatic situations and comedies over the years through his films, works seen on stage and time behind the camera. Chaplin used his gymnastic-like talents as a physical comic to manipulate and captivate audiences with his falling, sliding, ducking, squirming, staggering and rolls off people and anything he could find which is unrivaled to anything seen in film today. Through music, conflict and whimsical yet sometimes serious characters, Charlie was able to enhance the emotional experience and psychological adventure of the key audience. He had the ability to draw the audience in at just the right moment so one might feel the same pain or excitement he was experiencing. Through his many on-screen personalities and ingenious work on and off the set, Charlie Chaplin brought the world to it's knees which forever changed the face of American film and world cinema.
In regards to Chaplin's 1921 film "The Kid", it ends the way it does to not only reinforce the strong relationship between Charlie and the kid but to show the release of anxiety, pain and anguish the mother went through after giving up the child. Charlie went through countless struggles to prove and maintain his deep attachment and love for the kid. A couple of these examples include a fight with a big bully, hardship with the law when the orphanage is picking up the kid and spending the night in a public shelter. Also not to be excluded is Charlie's commitment to the kid shown in the simplicity of living and working together as a team. The kid inadvertently throwing rocks and breaking residential windows so Charlie can walk by at just the right time to replace them is a prime example. To deny Charlie the privilege to be together with the kid at the end of the film after all they had been through would be cold-hearted and unethical.