Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Me Before You, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Ambition and Achievement
Love and Sacrifice
Quality of Life
Fitness
Summary
Analysis
A legal briefing regarding William John Traynor details Will’s medical condition as a C5-6 quadriplegic, and Will’s painstaking documentation of his legal affair before he went to Switzerland. Public prosecution interviewed all parties involved with William’s case and found that Will’s family and friends all expressed opposition to Will’s desire to end his own life and arranged a six-month period expressly meant to change Will’s, mind but were unsuccessful. The legal document identifies Louisa Clark as one of Will’s beneficiaries. She was interviewed at length about her connection to Will and was found to have done everything in her power to deter Will from his course of action.
The novel includes many different perspectives, even including an impersonal legal document, but it never speaks from Will’s point of view. This choice mimics the lack of agency that Will feels in his own life. The legal document in particular points out how the debates over the right to die often look at facts alone rather than considering the human circumstances. Lou also looks different from this perspective, as the short-term caretaker of a wealthy man who could have been taking advantage of his money before his death.
Themes
Camilla and Steven split up after Will’s death, and Camilla resigns from her job as a magistrate. Though the Public Prosecution does not condone Will’s choice to end his life at a foreign clinic, all the evidence gathered shows that this was Will’s choice alone, and that none of his family or friends should be prosecuted for their role in assisting his suicide. Finally, the prosecution suggests dropping the case while making it clear that the Traynor case sets no precedent for future incidents of assisted suicide in the UK.
In Will’s case, suicide was not necessarily tragic or wrong, given all the efforts his family and loved ones made for him before respecting Will’s choice for himself. Will’s choice still has irreparable consequences for his family, yet his preparations ensure that the Traynors and Lou will not be punished for their role in his decision. The ultimate conclusion is that this was Will’s choice, and that his family supported him even though they didn’t agree with him.
Themes
