LOVE IS SO TIED TO THE TRUTH

                 “me: you know what sucks about love?

                            o.w.g: what?

                            me: that it’s so tied to the truth”

   Everything about this quote makes my blood run cold. It is such an accurate representation of so many things. It shows how teenagers are insightful and more observant then most adults because they watch their lives go by while looking for the meaning of everything they’re doing and are told to do. It shows how sometimes the people who hide in the background and are never given a second thought, tend to understand everything going on with everyone around them. Most interestingly it shows how teenagers perceive the concept of love.

In my opinion you can understand the concept of love since you are born. You understand you should love you mother and father, right? You understand you should love your siblings, right? But as you grow older you begin to decide whom you love and why you love them - meaning that love has more to do with acceptance then force. 

Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green and David Levithan shows teenage readers that love is always tethered to truth, therefore your love for someone is only be strong and reliable when both people have not only accepted their partner, but have accepted themselves.

   

   Will Grayson, Will Grayson is about two teenage boys named Will Grayson who encounter a ginormous, gay teenager named Tiny who changes their lives. Showing them how other people perceive them and how standing out and admitting to yourself who you really are is not a bad thing and it isn’t scary once you’ve stepped out of the bubble they've built.

   

   Will Grayson number one has been Tiny’s friend since forever, and this Will Grayson did not like being Tiny’s friend at all! Tiny drew attention to himself wherever they went and Tiny was always singing and always loud and has always embarrassed Will since they met. Will Grayson 1 created two rules for himself, that left him in a bubble, never allowing himself to love or be loved, “1) Don’t care too much and 2) shut up,”. But with a friend as outgoing and unforgiving as Tiny, Will Grayson 1 was forced to standout and speak out more then he would’ve liked, and Will was not appreciative in any way. He didn’t accept who Tiny was and he tried not to allow himself to care about Tiny very much. He even tried to stop being friends with Tiny all together after Tiny wrote a play staring a character named “Phil Wrayson” and showed Will what people thought of him in a very upfront and crude way through the character.

But Will Grayson 1 realized that it was because of Tiny that Will met the girl he loves, Jane, and that in fact it was because of Tiny that he even allowed himself to let someone in personally and affectionately. Will began to see that the way his character was portrayed was actually spot on and he had to accept that it is just who he was and Tiny will always be the way he is and just because Will is uncomfortable by this and it is difficult to be friends with someone who pushes him so much, it won’t change who either of them are. It is because Will Grayson 1 learned how to accept who he was seen by other people and accept his only real friend in the world and accept other people into his life that he was able to admit with ease that he loved Tiny and he loved Jane.

   

   Will Grayson number two is a depressed, self-confined, cynical mess of a teenage boy and he covers himself with a thick, thick layer of sarcasm. Will Grayson 2 is going through this huge life change discovering that he is gay, but when he suffers from a tremendous loss when he found out his online boyfriend for over a year was actually a desperate, needy, crazy friend of his lying to him, Tiny swoops in and saves the days taking Will Grayson 2 and not only dating him but showing him a supportive, welcoming community. Will Grayson has never allowed himself to really care about anyone before because he thinks everyone is annoying and immature and kind of out to get him, until Tiny. He really loved Tiny and he loved the way Tiny made him feel about himself, but he couldn’t make it work with him because although Tiny thought he loved Will Grayson 2 he wanted a project. He used the sad, pitiful Will as an experiment and something to give Tiny a sense of pride and accomplishment because he wanted to change Will. Will Grayson 2 loved Tiny and accepted all of his awkwardness and pure gayness, but Tiny couldn’t accept Will’s reality and because Tiny continued to try to change Will, Will Grayson 2 broke it off.

But Tiny changed Will Grayson 2 in another way, Tiny showed Will how to appreciate and love his single and tired mother. Will opened up to her and thanked her and allowed her into his life because of Tiny’s persuasion. He finally accepted that he won’t ever have a father or a complete family or a perfect mom, he finally recognized that his mother cared about him and he needed to care about her as she does to him.

Will Grayson 2 changed for the best after meeting Tiny because he learned to very important fact that if you really love someone you accept the truth about them and it is the most important thing to let in the people who really care about you, and to love yourself even if that means accepting traits you may not be comfortable with.

   

   Will Grayson and Will Grayson were both changed because of Tiny and both learned how to acknowledge who they are and love themselves and the people around them, and to let go of the people who can’t accept them as who they are. This book can also teach teenagers this same lesson, that is so important to live for yourself and make sure you are always trying to be happy and at least loving yourself. To never shut people out when they really care about you, and never keep yourself from real love, even if it may be so tied to truth.