I tend to be a “the author knows best” person. This is the world they created. They know best! I’m also a piano teacher and I stress to my students that whatever style the composer wrote the song in, we play it that way first! I am so on board with the artist being the one to determine the style and the ending! But…. sometimes they don’t know what they are doing!
Sometimes the author is just so wrong I can’t even handle it! Sometimes it seems like they’ve forgotten who their characters are!
I know, I know. You’re probably thinking, “If you have such a problem with it B, then become an author. Write your own ending.” And trust me, there are times I do! I’ve never put it out there for anyone else but sometimes my mind just needs the closure of the, in my humble opinion, “right” ending.
There aren’t many times I feel deeply about this but there is one in particular case that I still feel is all wrong. I’m sorry Lousia May Alcott, but Jo should have ended up with Laurie in “Little Women”.
For those of you who don’t know the story- go read it. Right now. Do nothing for the next three days and then come back and finish this blog. I give you permission. Go.
And, welcome back. I’m assuming you all did what I told you to right? 😉 Otherwise I’ll warn you SPOILERS AHEAD!
Anyways, My Jo and My Laurie.
In Little Women we see a house of women who have fun and are lively and they all grow up to get great endings. Or so we would think. Alcott is no Austen. Austen promised that, after a little trouble, all her characters would have happy endings and marriages. Alcott did not feel the same way. You can read interviews where Alcott did not want Jo to even end up in a relationship at all. Alcott only did it because the pressure from her fans was so heavy ( yay for the power of the people!). And yet, I feel like Alcott’s ending was unsatisfactory.
Jo and her neighbor Laurie are best friends. He adores Jo. He wants nothing more than to create music and see Jo be happy. Jo wants to write and she doesn’t think Laurie and her would do well together because they would fight. Well I’m sorry to be reality here Jo, but couples fight. They aren’t always happy and if you have no disagreements, I almost question if you are even in a real relationship. Laurie wants to see her write. Wants her to write out of joy, not out of necessity of money. Jo shifts the kind of writing she does purely to make money, with Laurie she wouldn’t have to.
Jo’s adventure in New York City where she meets Professor Bhaer is almost perfect. He challenges her to be a better writer. He takes on the role of mentor. But the romance makes no sense. The age gap is wide and the intellectual gap is there also. Bhaer feels more like a father than a husband. No Louisa May Alcott! Just no!
But Laurie, insert dreamy sigh. Laurie is wonderful. And yet, Alcott undersells him too. Laurie so desperately wants to be part of Jo’s family that he marries Jo’s younger sister. The age gap between the two isn’t so extreme but it still doesn’t make sense. Jo’s sister’s chastisement of Laurie when they are abroad makes Laurie rethink things. He becomes more serious. He wants to be a better man. But there is no build up of romance between the two.
Jo initially rejected Laurie’s proposal. I understand. They were both very young.
But I can’t help feeling that if Laurie had come back after Jo’s sister Beth died, when they had both grown up a bit, they could have been very happy together. His first proposal was that of a boy. If he had proposed again, it would have been as a man.
These are my thoughts. My very strong thoughts. But they are just mine. Perhaps there is a story that you feel is written with a “wrong” ending.
There is a whole world of people who believe that the author has gotten it wrong and they’ve done something about it! And this beautiful thing is called- fanfiction. Now mind you, fanfiction is not always of the highest quality. Fanficition is not always clean reading. But fanfiction is a beautiful way to find the ending you long to see. So if you want a different ending, go and find it! Go and write it! Use that creative thing that sits on your shoulders called your head. And inside that head is your brain! That beautiful creative thing that longs to create. We were all designed to create something! Go create! Write your own endings! Write your own stories! I set you free my sparkling darlings!
Keep Sparkling
-B
P.S. Be watching for a special extra post this week in which I give you a bit of what it would have looked like if I had written part of “Little Women”. Just a little fanfiction from me!
The Sparkling Librarian 