In the novels Romeo and Juliet, West Side Story, and Snow Falling on Cedars different factors in society contribute to the destruction of love

Essay by little_one_6969College, UndergraduateA, December 2002

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Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. Its not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered. It keeps not records of wrong, but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.

In the perfect world, love would be present in everyone's life, everyday. When someone falls in love they become vulnerable and allow themselves to give their everything to another person. What happens though when that love fails? And when it does, what are the causes for it? In the novels Romeo and Juliet, West Side Story, and Snow Falling on Cedars different factors in our society contribute greatly to the destruction of love.

In West Side Story and Romeo and Juliet, the hate that the characters feel for each other takes on a form of fighting.

In West Side Story, the hate between the Puerto Ricans and the Americans accelerate to a point where they act on this hate. Street fights, small brawls, and rumbles all seem small compared the gang war that takes place. For the first time weapons are involved. It is during this war that Tony is killed and Maria realizes that everyone has hate inside of them, including her, and that this hate is what causes fighting and death. "We all killed him, and Riff, and I too. I can kill now because I hate now. How many can I kill, Chino? How many, and still have one left for me" (West, 223)?

The feud between the Montagues and Capulets, in Romeo and Juliet,

went back for so long that no one could remember why they disliked each other so much. During Romeo and Juliet's life, the...