Role Of Euthanasia In Me Before You Book

Jojo Moyes is not portraying that assisted suicide is a person’s right to have through her book, Me Before You. Will Traynor did go from having a rather posh life to spending his days rolling around in a wheelchair, although his life is being made the best by his family and caretakers. The only person to bring up the idea of euthanasia and have the desire to go through with it is the man himself, Will. In fact, many of the characters are against euthanasia and try to persuade Will to not do it. Euthanasia is the last resort for someone if they are absolutely miserable, though it is not seen as the right thing to do.

The Traynor family understand Will the best. Of course because they are family, but mostly because they knew him before his accident. The Traynor’s are also very secretive about what they think of Will and what they think is the best for their son and brother. Lou, Will’s caretaker, always hears them conversing and they say things that obviously no one else is meant to hear. Will’s Mom, Camila, thinks that she should let Will do whatever he pleases because it is his life. On the other hand, Will’s sister, Georgia, begs to differ from her parents. In the quote “But Dignitas? It’s just wrong. I know it’s hard for him, but it will destroy you and Daddy. I knew it. Think of how you would feel! Think of the publicity! Your job! Both your reputations! He must know it. It’s a selfish thing to even ask. How can he? How can he do this? How can you do this?” She began to sob again. “George…” “Don’t look at me like that. I do care about him mummy. I do…” (103) Georgina clearly states that if Will goes through with Dignitas, it will ruin not only his life but the lives of his family members and caretakers. She is absolutely right about it being a selfish thing to do, and he should not have the right to make that decision so quickly on his own. We do not know a lot about Georgina and Will’s relationship before the accident, but I can tell that she must have cared the slightest bit about her brother or else it would not be as big of a deal. The same thing also goes for Georgina’s relationship with her parents, she shows a lot of care and compassion for them and the sake of their reputations.

During the last few months of Will’s life, Lou tried to unravel his mind as much as she could. She understands why Will would want to end his life, but she wants to find ways around him to make him see the good in his life. In the quote, “Don’t you think it’s actually harder for you...to adapt, I mean? Because you’ve done all that stuff?” “Are you asking me if I wish I’d never done it?” “I’m just wondering if it would have been easier for you. If you led a smaller life. To live like this, I mean.” “I will never, ever regret the things I’ve done. Because most days, if you’re stuck in one of these, all you have are the places in your memory you can go to.” (205) Will tells Lou that he has absolutely no regrets about his life before the accident. If anything, it is a good thing that he had such an adventurous life before the accident. Of course memories don’t last forever, but it gave Lou hope that maybe if she could give him more memories and show him that his “old life” never ended.

No one will truly understand what Will feels. He is sick both mentally and physically. Lou knows his sickness from both perspectives, and therefore knows him the best. In the quote, “He’s ill, Katrina. He’s depressed. People who are vulnerable should not be given the chance to do something they’ll…” She trailed off in mute fury and dabbed at her eyes with a napkin. “That woman must be heartless. Heartless. And to think they got Louisa involved in all this. She’s a magistrate, for goodness sake. You’d think a magistrate would know what was right or wrong. Of all people.” (342) Lou’s sister, Katrina, expresses that what the Traynors have done about Will is horrible. Not only are they allowing him to go through with assisted suicide, but they got Lou involved which is very unprofessional and heartless. Lou does explain to her sister that he is depressed and has attempted suicide many times before, but no matter what Katrina thinks that the Traynors allowing Will to die, especially after all Lou has done for him, is absolutely horrible. It’s almost as if the Traynor’s are just giving into Will’s desire to die.

For Will to go through euthanasia is his absolute last resort. Georgina and her parents try to save Will and eventually give into his own death. Lou gets to Will as close as she can to open up his mind and tries to give him new memories to live off of, and Lou’s sister watches her struggle to save Will’s life and sees the assisted suicide as a heartless action on the Traynor’s part. The only one who has complete control over this assisted suicide is Will. No one is encouraging him to do it or gave him the idea. Everyone is trying to save him because they see this whole situation as a horrible idea. Despite the fact that Will got what he wanted, Jojo Moyes did not portray that assisted suicide is the right someone should have.