As many of you know, I am a self-proclaimed book nerd. My shelves and desk are covered with books; some have been read and reread countless times, while others are still sitting there, unopened, and glaring me in the face, begging for me to have a free minute to drop whatever I am doing, and to crack it on open.
Recently, I just finished reading the novel Me Before You by Jojo Moyes. This novel was a love story, but it was far from your typical boy meets girl and they fall in love and live happily ever after love story. This novel focused on the difficulty of dating, and also highlighted the difficulty of dating someone who has a disability, or being disabled and dating. Me Before You also highlighted a very controversial topic in today's culture: the right to end your life through physician-assisted suicide.
If you haven't read this novel yet, stop reading this now. There will be many spoiler alerts ahead.
The story is told in Louisa Clark's point of view, and you follow her journey and budding relationship with Will Traynor. Louisa is hired to be a personal assistant to Will by him mother, Camille. Will became quadriplegic after getting a hit by a car, and now is fully dependent on his wheelchair, his nurse Nathan, and Louisa's assistance to make it through the day. Will struggles to deal with this, and hates being so dependent on others; it is especially difficult for him because before his accident, he used to be the biggest adrenaline junkie. He was a successful businessman, who enjoyed skydiving and other insane activities in his free time.
What Louisa doesn't know when she is hired, is that Will had previously tried to commit suicide. He didn't succeed, and he made his family promise that if he still wanted to end his life after another year, they would take him to commit physician-assisted suicide, no questions asked.
Well, that's why Louisa was hired. Camille wanted to try any last-minute miracles to change Will's mind. Louisa find's this out, and after a little reluctance, she makes it her mission to try and change Will's mind; planning elaborate trips (handicap accessible), and falling in love with Will along the way.
Long story short, the two fall completely in love with one another. The readers begin to think Louisa has succeeded, and yet, after all of her efforts, Will doesn't change his mind. He follows through with requesting his suicide, and pleads for Louisa to fly to Sweden and be by his side. He heartbreakingly tells Louisa, " It's not going to get any better than this. The odds are I'm only going get increasingly unwell and my life, reduced as it is is going to get smaller... I don't want to be in pain anymore, or trapped in this thing, or dependent on everyone, or afraid. So I'm asking you- if you feel the things you say you feel- then do it. Be with me. Give me the end I'm hoping for," (Moyes, 362).
Devastated and confused, after a lot of reluctance and even being kicked out by her family, Louisa follows through. She is by his side, and she watches Will die.
When I finished the novel, I was torn apart. I was angry at Will; I was hurting for Louisa. But then I started to wonder how much pain this character must have been in. For Will to be so in love, and for him to still want to not live anymore, he must have been hurting all the time. This novel was amazing; it brought out so many emotions, and started a conversation that a lot of people don't think about too often. Who gets to decide if someone wants to, or has to, keep living in constant pain? Who has the power to pick whose life is too valuable to end? I applaud you, Jojo Moyes, for creating such a thought-provoking, wonderful, and emotionally conflicting work of art. I can't wait to pick up the sequel, After You.
