Blog #1   Sad, Sad, Sad

Who do I feel most sorry for: Hamlet, Janie, Stevie, Sydney Carton?

            We have read a few books so far this year, and it seem each of these works contains characters that have experienced severe hardships.  In this blog I will be discussing which character was subject to the most suffering; the character I feel most sorry for. 

            To me, the obvious answer would be Stevie.  He was the most innocent of all character we have been introduced to so far, and he was forced to suffer the worst and least honorable death.  So, to me Stevie is far too obvious a choice and I will switch him out for Mrs. Verloc, to make the odds more fair. 

            Right away I’m going to rule out Sydney Carton.  The tragedy that has befallen him is great, but at the end of the day it was his own choice.  I don’t think this in bad way but, in fact, a very good way.  Sydney is a hero and deserving of praise for his righteous acts.  I don’t feel at all sorry for him but, instead, I admire him and am inspired by his final act.

            The next choice I will rule out is Mrs. Verloc.  Her brother was killed, but as tragic as that is, she still murdered her husband.  In cold blood she murdered her husband in his home and his shop.  The choices made by Mrs. Verloc after Stevie’s death constitute, in my mind, who she really is.  Instead of feeling sorry for her I have grown to dislike her. 

            Lastly I will rule out Hamlet.  His father was killed by his uncle and his mother was a whore, but he still is a prince.  Before all these tragedies had befallen him, Hamlet was most likely a very spoiled child who always got what he wanted.  Until now his life was probably very easy.  Also, Hamlet at first comes off as a brat.  He originally whines about the unfortunate circumstances that have surrounded him, instead of immediately taking action.  By the end of the play though, I came to love Hamlet.  He grew from a child, unable to cope, to a strong young man willing to give his own life to conquer evil and exact revenge.  He deserved the thrown his father had planned to leave for him and it kills me to see that he can’t have it.  Hamlet would have attended the most funerals, but many were caused by his own sword.

            So, of all the characters I have been introduced to, I think Jane suffered the most.  At first I disliked her.  Janie seemed so stuck up, abandoning her first husband merely because he asked for some extra help around the farm.  I couldn’t believe she would run away from a marriage so easily.  Then I saw this action for what it truly was; Janie was on her life-long search or happiness.  She wanted to live and would make any sacrifice to achieve this goal she held onto so tightly.  Then she met Jodie, and he flat out tricked her.  He locker her away and tied up her hair around her mouth so she couldn’t speak.  He oppressed his own wife, the one he had promised a wonderful new life.  After ten or more years of marriage Janie finally gets out and finds freedom in Tea Cake.  She loved Tea Cake and the she herself had to kill him.  Of all the deaths in each of these works, Tea Cake’s is the most tragic to me.  I felt so sorry for Janie as she sat at trial for her unwanted killing.