Death was the consequence for the main characters in each of the first four novels read in the course. The protagonist of each of the first four novels; Werther, Rafael, Ivan Ilyich and K. respectively; met their demise on the last page of their respective novels. All four were directly or indirectly the cause of their painful disappearance. Werther chose suicide rather than conform to the habits of adulthood and distance himself further from nature. Rafael chose to live a life of possession and, in turn, his inner self grew weaker. Ivan Ilyich alienated himself from those around him and hid behind the aristocratic social mask. Ultimately, Joseph K. causes his demise by being a puppet of society, conforming to all the rules and his own sense of guilt. Ivan Ilyich was the only person to somewhat remedy the situation before sinking into the darkness of death. In any case, the actions of the four protagonists' lives made their weaknesses as characters very clear. In Goethe's novel, Werther died a very slow and excruciatingly painful death. He refused to conform to life as it was; refused to move further away from the nature he cherished so much. In doing so, Werther denied adulthood. Werther saw suicide as his only escape from adulthood and his only chance of eternal happiness. Everything was worth happiness, “certainly, he who is sick… will not refuse the bitterest medicines, to regain the health to which he aspires.” (July 1) Werther uses this analogy to prove that he means that a person will go far to rid themselves of unpleasantness. The source of inconvenience for Werther is Lotte, because he can have no rights over her. Being an adult means being able to say no to yourself. Werther was unable to understand that Lott... middle of paper ... this thought. He was free to seize the knife that was to execute him; however, he did not do so. "He simply turned his head, which was still free to move, and looked around."(228) K. had the opportunity to take control of his own destiny, but he chose to comply with it. His last words were "I'm like a dog." (229) K has felt guilty all along, and now this is his punishment. All four protagonists died at the end of their stories, and all were guilty in their own right. Life was mundane for Werther, Rafael Valentine, Ivan Ilyich and Joseph K. until their lives began to change. Each character was ill-equipped for such changes and therefore suffered greatly. If only they were capable of transcending themselves, they could have avoided the impending disaster of death that was about to befall them.BibliographyQuotations cited in text.