The Sorrows of Young Werther

In English class I heard a story that I fell in love with.

A book titled, “The Sorrows of Young Werther” by Goethe is a semi-autobiographical account of a  young romantic man who is known for boldly wearing a yellow waist coast with his blue jacket. The book is a fictional collection of letters written from the main character Werther to his friend Wilhelm.

The letters recount Werthers infatuation and love for a girl his age named Charlotte who is engaged to a much older man. Werther does his best to be friends with Charlotte and her fiancé but is so pained by her presence and circumstance that he decides to leave. Eventually his love for Charlotte and inability to be with her brings so much anguish that he decides one of the three, himself, Charlotte, or her fiancé, must die. Unable and unwilling to murder, he decides it is himself that must die and in a memorable and dramatic act, shoots himself in the head, leaving behind a farewell letter. His deep unfailing love for someone who he could not have drove Werther to suicide. He would rather die than live in a world with out his love. What a “romantic” idea.

This work by Goethe is undoubtedly the beginning of what some would jokingly call EMO. However, its story and character are powerful enough that it provides fuel for works across the ages with a rage of titles anywhere from Romeo and Juliet to Catcher in the Rye. The poignant story of a young person trapped in his or her feelings, so introverted and able to feel, so sensitive to their environment, that they wince when touched emotionally. The light at the end of their tunnel is either too far in the distance to ever reach or something they completely don’t understand, and instead of seeking to decipher anything at all, they plow forward, unsure of the direction, but onward into the light. Goethe was a genius, not for his ability to write a piece like this, but for his unabashed honesty and the genuine heart of the novel that pumps real life, feelings, and experience into the story.

Werthers have and always will exist. They are the best and worst in all of us. They are what make us human. The ability to love - not only the ability, but the choice to love - even when that love is unrequited. The foolish decisions made in moments of passion are what define some of the biggest events mankind will ever know. Its almost no wonder Werther was driven to suicide, these paramount feelings and thoughts, metaphorically as big as mountains, the same mountains that the world carries on its shoulders, are all raging with life and intensity inside a young boy.

Imagine 20 stray cats crammed into a burlap sack that is tied shut. The noise. The movement. The desperate clawing and howling of 20 enraged cats. Imagine Werthers emotional insides. Imagine how torn he felt. Ripped to pieces by relentless thoughts and feelings. Charlotte alone holds the scissors, the way out.