"Happy Endings"

The two main themes of literature described by Professor Corrigan were love and death. When I think about love I think of the Hollywood version; the love that knows no hardships. This kind of fairy-tale love gives me, and I’m sure others, a false sense of love. I am sure that there are relationships like that, but chances are I’m going to have to wake up and smell the roses. I think human love is a process that can always be improved. However, God has perfect, unfailing love to which our finite minds will never understand. This brings me joy to know that my family loves me, but there is a God who loves me with no clauses. Someone brought up in class that other people from other cultures have an apathetic feeling towards love. So when they hear God is love, it doesn’t ring as hopeful or encouraging as it would to someone like me. Through reading short excerpts like Happy Endings they remind me that not everybody has the same background or view as me. Though it was fiction, there is certainly truth to be found. There are people like Mary, who fall in love with a “rat, a pig, a dog” like John but are too stubborn or oblivious to admit it. Like Mary, they are always hoping for better. “This other John will emerge like a butterfly from a cocoon.” This ironic parody on love awakened my soul, because I try to show people love. However, I really don’t know what that looks like. I can assume that it means to care for people more than you care about myself. Every time I talk about love, I can’t help but think of the Fathers love. Happy Endings isn’t the type of story I’d want to read, however I think stories like it are important in understanding different views on love.