I've always found tragedies fairly interesting. Terrible things happening to all sorts of people and almost always resulting in death. Interesting, yes, but at the same time, very depressing. I understand that tragedies are a part of the world of literature and not every story has a happy ending, but I'm not entirely sure how exactly I feel about them as a whole. I find them interesting, as I said before, but does that mean I like them? I really don't know.
What I do know, however, is that I tend to hate depressing endings. It all started the summer of fifth grade. I read this book about a sled dog (the protagonist of the story). I can't remember the title, but what I remember vividly is that at one point in the novel, this dog had befriended a kind man who he accepted as his master, along with that man's friends and the other sled dogs who he grew close to as his companions. One day, they were out in the woods camping (I can't remember why) and the main sled dog left the group because he heard a call from a wild dog or wolf or something. You see, he was fighting between the pull of loyalty toward his master, his master's friends, and the other dogs, and the call of the wild - leaving them all behind and becoming wild. He decided he loved his companions too much to leave them, so he ran back to the group the next day and, well, everyone had been killed by traveling huntsmen. The ending of the story was so abrupt that I just couldn't deal with it. the book had been so good up until that point. At the end of the novel, rather than the hero dying (as in most tragedies), everyone but the main character had died. Imagine that - everyone you love just suddenly disappearing off the face of the earth. In all honesty, I believe that would be worse than death.
And so, I had been introduced to the world of tragedies. I've seen a lot of tragedies throughout the years, and some have actually been quite good. However, I just can't stand any of the endings. Death, death and more death - almost every time. I think my problem is that I just get way too attached to the characters that I can't stand watching them struggle through the terrors of their lives. Antigone, Eponine, Fantine, Hassan, many of the characters within the Hunger Games Trilogy and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. There are so many tragic deaths to characters that are so well developed and loved by the audience that it almost makes me hate tragedies.
At the same time, tragedies are necessary to our existence. They keep us sane and out of the crazy mind-set that every little thing in the world will end in a "happily ever after", as Disney movies clearly express (No offense to Disney movies, which I love). Tragedies can be depressing and frustrating and altogether outrageous at times, but isn't that the point? Wasn't the author intending to get that specific reaction from the audience? It's like when an artist paints a portrait of a horrifying face. They specifically intend to invoke a reaction in their viewers. Sad songs can make us want to cry if performed good enough, but that doesn't mean we hate them. In fact, songs that bring us to tears can make us love them even more. And aren't tragedies the same?
So, I may not love tragedies, but I do not hate them. I respect them for what they are and the reaction they obtain from the readers. Although some may make me cry, I acknowledge the author for developing the characters in such a way that I am disturbed by their deaths. Tragedies are tragedies, but they are not the only kind of story in the world. There's all sorts of happy endings out there, it just depends which kind of story you feel like reading. :)
