Taxi Driver - The Ending and its Possible Explanations

One thing that struck me as interesting while watching "Taxi Driver" was the film's ending, its epilogue, and their ambiguity. As we have learned through other films such as "The Shining", ambiguity is oftentimes what makes a film great, and the number of possible explanations that the ending of this film generates clearly speaks to this characteristic. One theory is that the ending of the film is meant to be taken literally. Travis is shot, but manages to save Iris from the wrath of her pimp and his associates, is hailed as a hero by local papers, and receives a letter from Iris' parents thanking him, and offering him a place as a "most welcome guest in our home". He then encounters Betsy, drives her around as they discuss his newfound fame, and drops her off free of charge. This could be seen as a story of redemption. Travis is a man desperate to receive any kind of human connection, and fulfills this desire by acting heroically. However, many alternate theories about this ending have been discussed. One states that Travis died in the shootout, and that the two epilogue scenes are a kind of heaven for Travis, in which he can fulfill the desires he had while he was alive. This theory is supported by the fact that Betsy is no longer mad at Travis, she seems to have forgotten their dispute entirely and calmly converses with Travis in his taxi. Another theory is that all of the events of the movie were imagined by Travis as he drove his taxi around New York City. This claim could be supported by that fact that the movie begins and ends with shots of New York City from the inside of a taxi. Writer Paul Schrader has stated that his intention in doing this was to make it so that the film's last frame "could be spliced to the first frame, and the movie started all over again", but did not state whether or not this confirms the theory of the movie being Travis' daydream. Whatever Schrader and Scorsese intended their ending to mean, there is no doubt that its ambiguity is one of the aspects of Taxi Driver that makes it a truly great film.