The first novel I ever read was in third grade. We got to choose (any book) to read and write a report on. I've always been a proficient reader, and my neighbor bet me I couldn't read the largest book he could find in the library. Of course, we all know I can't pass up a challenge, so I told him to pick one.
He came up with Little Women, which was about 600 pages. So I finished it. Faster than most kids finished their books in fact. But there was one key aspect that kept me from truly enjoying it (Which I included in my report) and still bothers me to this day.
JO MARCH DOES NOT MARRY LAURIE.
Seriously.
That ruins the whole thing for me. Believe it or not world, its not all that stereotypical that the best friend and the girl get married. Actually if you think about it, it's kind of rare. Look at my best friend's wedding. Prime example. Do they fall in love often? Yes. Get married. Rarely.
I just find it so hard to believe that Jo doesn't reciprocate. If she doesn't marry Laurie then fine but then she just shouldn't marry at all. That's what it seems like at first. Then she marries the German dude.( I can never spell his name).
I though this only really bothered me but most literary critics have the same notion that its out of the blue, especially given Jo's character. It makes more sense for her to marry Laurie or just no one. It seems hard to believe it to be unrequited. Her excuses are feeble too. Seriously. "Our tempers conflict, etc etc." Honestly, many instances in the book show otherwise. If anything their relationship is a redeeming quality between the many faults of both characters. So why why why? Louisa May Alcott why why why did you do this to me? To all the loyal readers who fell in love with these characters? To those of us who relate to Jo to a fault. Look at Cathy and Heathcliff. Wuthering Heights. The book was made to be a tragedy. The story was created around the chaos and their denial of their wants and the craziness of their love. They were flawed people. But their love was their redemption. And the theory is in the end, in their deaths they have it.
Little women doesn't revolve around the denial of their love, so why condense it. Let people have their redemption.
So this is my rant, for one of my favorite books (omitting this detail).
In my version, it's Jo and Teddy forever. None of this Amy crap.
