The human heart is a complex and fragile thing. Though it is a functioning organ, it is also metaphorically referred to as the keeper of love. When people talk about heartbreak, they are talking about the aching pain a broken metaphorical heart accompanies, as I hope the organ cannot break in half. However, even if the pain is not physical, it can be so treacherous that it can completely change one’s viewpoint on the world. It is a natural part of humanity, so avoiding it is awfully difficult, but the pain can make completely shutting it out worth it.
As a teenager, I have fallen for people and felt what I define as love. Through personal experience, I have realized that there are many positive aspects to love, but there are also many negative ones. Each heartbreak was worse than the last, and it felt like a continuous cycle of love and departure. It was easy to conclude that it was my fault, but I quickly noticed that those around me also seemed to go through a similar cycle. I have been in various relationships and so have my friends, and we can all agree that being in one has been energy and time consuming and in the end, has not been worth it. Of course, there is the idea of soulmates and a perfect person for everybody, but realistically, it is not a very probable idea, and even if it is, all of the experiences before that perfect person are going to be brutal. The more one allows themselves to love, the more opportunities there are of being hurt by the wrong person. Therefore, it is beneficial to merely shut romantic relationships out.
Unfortunately, love does not only come naturally in terms of romance but also through parental figures. It is not strictly towards immediate family but general bonded role models. The issue with this form of connection is that it often leads to people relying on one another and being left in a vulnerable position. In the graphic novel V for Vendetta, it can be seen in the relationship of Evey and V. Evey lost her father at a young age and was suddenly cared for and rescued by V. This caused her to depend on him and find him essential to her life. Furthermore, she needed him in her world as she said, “The world is so big and horrible and there’s just you…. and me I suppose” (pg. 31). The power and trust accompanying this form of love can be abused, such as when V merely said “and as for me involving you, I seem to remember that you were the one anxious to make a deal” (pg. 64) after Evey was upset about him killing a man no matter the cause. V’s actions were manipulative and resulted in Evey apologizing for being misinformed and betrayed. Simple events like this can damage Evey’s confidence, trust, and happiness; Evey could be left in tremendous pain.
Independence is also a huge factor in agony through love. If the other person is too independent, it is easy for them to remain detached and leave. Even with existing history boredom and a lack of passion quickly lead to it. Laetitia and her family from the story Borders are great examples of this situation. Laetitia had left for another country at the ripe age of 17 from her home even after the effort and care her mother had put into raising her. In addition, Thomas King stated that “Laetitia had not left home with my mother’s blessing” (pg. 131), proving the ability to leave a loved one without both sides contributing to the concluding decision. Doing so often ends up only being beneficial to one party, not both. Moreover, Laetitia was bored of her family and the people that loved her. Perhaps this was not a direct intention, but on page 141, “Right in the middle of the program, Laetitia turned off the set and said she was going to Salt Lake City, that life around here was too boring” suggesting that those who loved her were also boring (a synonym for passionless) as they were a large part of her “life around here”. There may have been other factors in Laetitia’s decision that we as the reader do not know of, but from the given information, leaving appeared to be a rather obvious choice to Laetitia even if it affected those around her.
Love appears to be the centre of every extraordinary story, but in the end, they are all just stories. Sometimes, we can get lucky and see a rainbow without noticing the rain. Nevertheless, the more rain storms there are, the more thunder there is going to be. The idea of love is beautiful in every sense, but love itself is too excruciating to even fall into and so is much safer to stay away from overall. People can leave, and if they do not, they can control your mind through your heart as seen in both stories. Heartbreak is one of the worst things a person can encounter, and yet, throughout a lifetime, it appears to be inevitable.
Works Cited
King, Thomas. Borders. Harper Collins, 1993.
Moore, Alan. V for Vendetta. DC Comics, 2005.