Epiphany on happy endings.
Last week, my sister played a song for me about someone who lost someone they loved, kinda a sad song, yada yada yada. But right beforeshe walked out of the room (when the song was over), I asked her why I wanted there to be a happy ending to it. Her answer: Because I'm me.
And so I thought about it, and I had somewhat of an epiphany.
To me, happy endings don't necessarily mean everyone's ecstatic at the end of the book. So I'll drag you through my reasoning.
Note that this may only pertain to me, as I can only speak for myself.
Think of a book that had an okay ending. What I mean by this is, after the climax, things might be just a bit worse, or even the same as they were before the climax, but everything was deserved, or needed to happen, so you can't blame anyone for how it turned out. With the way that I'm doing this, this=not happy ending. At least not with my criteria.
And now to give just a bit of proof, I shall reveal spoilery stuff. Be warned.
And now SPOILERS FOR LAMENT AND A BIT OF BALLAD.
So if you've read Lament, you'll know that, in short, James and Dee don't die and Luke goes off to live with THEM. Then in Ballad they go off to the prestigious music school for freaks. But though the book switches between James and Nuala's POV, through a series of unsent texts we know that Dee is really torn up about Luke being gone. So with what I'm using at the moment, Lament does not have a happy ending.
END LAMENT/BALLAD SPOILERS.
So for the other side of this, think of a book where something absolutely horrible happened. And something irreversible too, like death. And after the climax, things obviously can't go back to normal. But somehow, well, they don't get over it, but they come to a point where they can move on, even though it'll never be the same again. This=happy ending.
HERE BEGINS THE SPOILERS FOR LOOKING FOR ALASKA.
The short version for this: Alaska dies. They all mourn, think it's their fault. Try to figure out why she left, killed herself, if she killed herself. But then, when they figured out why it all happened, they're still sad. It doesn't bring her back, and it seems like it doesn't change anything. But it does. Pudge knows that he loves, or loved her, and in the end, he says he always will. Then they go back to class and are still sad, but they figure out a way to move on and go on with their lives.
And in my opinion, this did have a happy ending.
END LOOKING FOR ALASKA SPOILERS.
And my conclusion: What makes a happy ending is not that they're happy for the rest of they're lives, or even for that moment. It's when the characters have found a way to make things better or move on as much as they can after the climax. We, or at least me, as a reader, feels that the character can struggle for the rest of their life, but as I've heard a lot, YA is about growing up. And as far as I can tell, when you grow up, you learn a bit about life, and when you grow up, it doesn't mean that the rest of your life will be easy. But it means reaching a point in your life where you can leave some of what you've known behind, and well, be okay with it. But when you leave your character dangling on a cliff, searching for something to hold onto, even if everything seems like it's been resolved, the reader feels like it shouldn't be over. But when the character has accepted that it's hard, and it might just stay that way, at least I'm fine.
And personally, I would rather have this type of ending.
And as for the song, now I've figured out that she's figured out that she just needs to keep moving, even though it's hard to without the guy she loved.
And so I thought about it, and I had somewhat of an epiphany.
To me, happy endings don't necessarily mean everyone's ecstatic at the end of the book. So I'll drag you through my reasoning.
Note that this may only pertain to me, as I can only speak for myself.
Think of a book that had an okay ending. What I mean by this is, after the climax, things might be just a bit worse, or even the same as they were before the climax, but everything was deserved, or needed to happen, so you can't blame anyone for how it turned out. With the way that I'm doing this, this=not happy ending. At least not with my criteria.
And now to give just a bit of proof, I shall reveal spoilery stuff. Be warned.
And now SPOILERS FOR LAMENT AND A BIT OF BALLAD.
So if you've read Lament, you'll know that, in short, James and Dee don't die and Luke goes off to live with THEM. Then in Ballad they go off to the prestigious music school for freaks. But though the book switches between James and Nuala's POV, through a series of unsent texts we know that Dee is really torn up about Luke being gone. So with what I'm using at the moment, Lament does not have a happy ending.
END LAMENT/BALLAD SPOILERS.
So for the other side of this, think of a book where something absolutely horrible happened. And something irreversible too, like death. And after the climax, things obviously can't go back to normal. But somehow, well, they don't get over it, but they come to a point where they can move on, even though it'll never be the same again. This=happy ending.
HERE BEGINS THE SPOILERS FOR LOOKING FOR ALASKA.
The short version for this: Alaska dies. They all mourn, think it's their fault. Try to figure out why she left, killed herself, if she killed herself. But then, when they figured out why it all happened, they're still sad. It doesn't bring her back, and it seems like it doesn't change anything. But it does. Pudge knows that he loves, or loved her, and in the end, he says he always will. Then they go back to class and are still sad, but they figure out a way to move on and go on with their lives.
And in my opinion, this did have a happy ending.
END LOOKING FOR ALASKA SPOILERS.
And my conclusion: What makes a happy ending is not that they're happy for the rest of they're lives, or even for that moment. It's when the characters have found a way to make things better or move on as much as they can after the climax. We, or at least me, as a reader, feels that the character can struggle for the rest of their life, but as I've heard a lot, YA is about growing up. And as far as I can tell, when you grow up, you learn a bit about life, and when you grow up, it doesn't mean that the rest of your life will be easy. But it means reaching a point in your life where you can leave some of what you've known behind, and well, be okay with it. But when you leave your character dangling on a cliff, searching for something to hold onto, even if everything seems like it's been resolved, the reader feels like it shouldn't be over. But when the character has accepted that it's hard, and it might just stay that way, at least I'm fine.
And personally, I would rather have this type of ending.
And as for the song, now I've figured out that she's figured out that she just needs to keep moving, even though it's hard to without the guy she loved.