This story was written in such a unique way compared to a lot of the other stories that we’ve read throughout this term, mainly due to its letter format, and that the immediate perspective of young Werther in these letters justifies the story continuing on to describe his own death. This is a very unique perspective, and having the death of Werther at the end wouldn’t be possible unless it was written with the particular letter or diary style, which is a very clever way to get around this issue if Werther himself is the narrator. I think that Werther believes he has a story to tell for a few reasons; the first of which is that he is travelling away from home to the town of Walheim. A trip such as this, especially to a place where he feels so inspired by the scenery and people there, definitely gives him cause to feel that he needs to share his experiences with Wilhelm back home. Another reason why Werther believes that he has a unique story to tell his audience is because he meets Charlotte, and gets caught up in the life of someone he desperately loves, but who is already spoken for and engaged. This in itself is an experience that he feels he needs to get off his chest and speak honestly about his feelings for Charlotte, and the letters allow him to do that. The narrator’s perspective on the events that happen throughout this story are relatively immediate, with Werther writing about the details of his trip shortly after they first happen. However, the perspective of the narrator shifts to a different person at the very end, during the Editor’s Note. This is because Werther is now dead at this point and cannot narrate any more about his story, or what happened to him when he set out to kill himself. The Editor has a more distanced perspective on the events that happened to Werther, and he presents the information long after Werther was already dead, from the details provided by other people around Werther.
I would describe the nature of this story as more of a confession than anything else, although it does not originally begin that way. In the beginning of this story, I thought that this book was more of a reflection on the town of Walheim and the peace that comes with being out in nature, and how that affects our creative capacities. However, as the letters progress it becomes evident that Werther is using them to be more like a diary of sorts, and to confide his feelings for Charlotte honestly. I would also say that the beginning of the story has a very different tone from the end, in part because Werther is now dead at this point. In the beginning of the story, the tone is very inquisitive and intrigued by everything new that Werther discovers. The tone gets more and more filled with tension and dissatisfaction, until at the end the Editor has a much more somber and desolate tone when presenting what happened to Werther after his suicide attempt. This change in tone was really interesting to witness, especially because of how hopeful Werther was at the beginning of the story. For example, on May 30th Werther states, “What I have lately said of painting is equally true with respect to poetry. It is only necessary for us to know what is really excellent, and venture to give it expression; and that is saying much in few words” (Pg. 10). He shared his food and money with those around him very freely in the beginning, had an appreciation for the beauty in nature, and his whole demeanor was full of excitement and discovery. In this way, the author really allows us to connect with Werther’s character, and it makes his downfall even more tragic as a result. Werther changes throughout the story by becoming much more turmoiled when Charlotte gets married, and although he tries to stay friends with both her and Albert, it just hurts him more to see them together. Ultimately, he believes that one of the three must die in order to solve this problem, but because he could never murder his friends he determines it must be himself that perishes. The transition from his demeanor at the beginning of the story to the very end is very depressing to witness, but it is also the result of really great writing. Overall, this story was very intriguing and its exploration of human emotion was very interesting to read.