are within me, filling the senses of my mind (105).His preoccupation with suicide surfaces in his letter to Wilhelm on March 16th: "Ah, I have snatched up a knife a hundred times, meaning to relieve my sorely beset heart. . . and am tempted to open a vein and so find eternal freedom (83)." It re-surfaces in October: "Oh, my friend! I wish that I might draw my sword, like some noble warrior, and deliver my prince from the painful torments of a long drawn-out death, and send my soul to go with the demi-god I had set free (96)."All men have disappointments and must decide how to deal with them. Werther admits this: "I am not the only unfortunate. All men are disappointed in their hopes and cheated out of their expectations (89)." Why then does he see suicide as his only option? He seems to believe that he has crossed the threshold of pain that he can tolerate. He describes this threshold in his argument with Albert over the righteousness of suicide: "Human nature has its limits, and can take joys, sorrows and pain up to a certain point, but is annihilated once the threshold is crossed. The question, therefore, is not whether a man is weak or strong, but whether he can endure the full extent of his sufferings, be they of a moral or physical nature (62)."Childishness implies a certain type of immaturity. If a child doesn't get what he wants, he often responds by throwing what is called a "temper tantrum." In Werther's case, his decision to commit suicide is the ultimate temper tantrum. There were other options he could have used to remove himself from Lotte's life, but, like a child, his goal was to justify himself for his behavior. His justification relies on his perception of what is the noble thing to do. He believes that he is doing the noble thing so that Lotte can be free of the impossible situation. He decries sensibility in his argument with Albert: 'Ah, you sensible people!' I cried, with a smile. 'Passions! In...
