User:Agonz1057/Me Before You (novel)

Daniel James
A twenty-three-year-old athletic student, Daniel James, suffered a terrible accident during rugby practice. During practice, Daniel and his team mates rehearse a "scrum" where players gather together in a tight circle to obtain the ball when all the players collapsed on top of Daniel. The collapse resulted in Daniel dislocating his neck vertebrae which caused a fracture in his spinal cord that left him paralyzed from chest to toes, he was hospitalized in March 2007 immediately after the accident. Upon hospital discharge, Daniel attempted suicide many times due to the burden of living as a quadriplegic. He committed an overdose during his stay at the hospital and seven months later got admitted again for another overdose in January 2008. Daniel saw no future for himself as a quadriplegic and would find creative ways to end his life, Daniel found no other solution to his problem and considered options that will legally allow himself to die. His parents reported how Daniel became depressed after the accident and found an athletic career impossible future to achieve. Daniel chose to apply to Dignitas Clinic in Switzerland and receive assistance suicide, Daniel threatened his mother if she did not allow it, he would find a way to move out and starve himself since he believed it was the only autonomy left in his life. On September 12, 2008 his father, Mark James, recounted Daniel's last days and unfold the experience when they landed in Switzerland and directed to the assistance clinic in Dignitas. A doctor greeted them and proceeded in making an evaluation of Daniel to determine his mental health and physical health meets the requirements for a subscription of Euthanasia to be administered to him. A couple of days later, in an apartment only exclusively to Daniel, a nurse gave him the poison to drink and reassured if this was his own decision and was quick to respond “yes”. Later on, Daniel James died on September 12, 2008, at the age of 23 alone in an apartment after taking a dose of Euthanasia. In further research, a note was found sent to the clinic by Daniel James on February 2008 that includes the following:

"my primary reason I wish your help is simply that I want to die, and due to my disability I am unable to make this happen" .

Further emphasizing his decision to go to Switzerland and hope to receive help.

Inspiration
Jojo Moyes' inspiration for the novel came from a news outlet talking about a 23-year-old university rugby player committing suicide after becoming quadriplegic due to a practice accident. The news went into account that he went to Switzerland to receive assistance in suicide, it is legal in Switzerland but not in the UK. Moyes was surprised how any parent could allow suicide and her research led to questioning herself about her ethics if presented a situation similar to Daniel James. Thus, the leading inspiration for the book “Me before You” tackle Will’s raw emotions towards his disability. She recites a story about having a relative who requires 24/7 care and wonders about the decision her relative would make. Also having a disabled son, she proclaims how a person's disability is the least interesting thing about them and demonstrates how their disability does not define one's own worth and does not highlight what they cannot do. In turn, writing this book made her more aware of the issues of assisted suicide and the hardships quadriplegic minorities face in the moment of bravery and burden. .

Reception
The novel received good rating and praises on demonstrating the patience and struggle of a relationship between care-giver and patient. The Britzone recalled the novel:

''” Me Before You is the appropriate title for this story. It shows us the value of what ideal life we want to live in, what we should do in our life to give it a meaning ”''

The article emphasizes qualities the main leads shone through the novel to tell a story of how a life can be precious and delicate. It is not a common love story and praises Jojo Moyes for combining all the struggles to show the compassion and understanding of an unordinary love story.

According to a book review in Lourdes University, highlights how Moyes came to describe the struggles of a quadriplegic and show the hardships these individuals face. It brings to light over the midst of a shadow and encourages the reader to find the beauty of “imperfections ” and learn to embrace them.

The New York Times, catches on how the novel demonstrates the bravery of one caregiver trying to deter one’s life and make them see life is worth living. Moyes perfectly exposes her character's flaws to make a riveting story to tell.

Controversy
The controversy the novel faced dealt mostly within the disability community. The movie told about the struggles of a quadriplegic and demonstrated a dark side when the plot of the book mentioned assisted suicide. One activist proclaimed in an article the reason behind assisted suicide is to sympathized with the character. However, for the number of praises Jojo Moyes received for the novel, the same amount was for criticism. For activists, the novel represents disabled victims as helpless individuals who cannot picture a life where they could get to accept their condition or serves as an inspiration to the main character, treated as a side character to the main plot. Criticism included the issue of not casting someone who was disabled for the movie and how the under-representation of these characters is a big issue in Hollywood and often reflects the current social climate of this particular minority group. In one quote:

” To romanticize cowardice is indeed perpetuating a stereotype for the sake of forsaking actual people with disabilities who are struggling to maintain their sanity and livelihood and aren’t given opportunities in Hollywood. ”

The underlying criticism throughout the whole novel is about the assisted suicide provided in Switzerland. According to studies, most people who seek assisted suicide are from Germany, France, and the UK. The process behind this assistance allows the person to clinically “kill themselves” by taking in Euthanasia prescribed by a doctor. In Switzerland, it is illegal for a doctor to assist you, so the loophole around is that there are clinics (like Dignitas) that allow a prescription of enough Euthanasia for the person to die. These clinics are non-profit organizations where the only person that benefit are the patients, not the doctors. The motto they use to justify this action is “consideration of the patient's wishes is fundamental ” which caused big controversies around Europe to dismantle the non-profit organizations selling this advertisement. It is known worldwide that Switzerland provide these services and became a tourist attraction coining the term “death tourism ”