Midnight Cowboy ending explained

What happens

Joe robs a man to pay for bus tickets to Florida, Ratso's dream. Ratso dies on the bus before they arrive. Joe, still in his cowboy clothes, puts an arm around him as the bus carries on south.

The last image

Joe sits in his cowboy outfit with his arm around his dead friend while the bus rolls on toward Florida.

What it says

Both men's dreams were borrowed fantasies, and the film wears them away. Florida arrives too late for Ratso, but Joe's care for him is real. The ending turns the Western's open road into something small and sad, and lets friendship be what lasts.