Love is a theme that resounds not only through literature, but through everyday life as well. Paging through a novel or watching an EHarmony commercial on television, everyday there are constant reminders that love completes the individual. But the question remains, is there one person who is really our "other half?" Do soul mates really exist, or is that just a concept created to keep hope alive? Taking a hard look at modern day society, it is difficult, if not impossible, to accept the existence of true and complete love---love without boundaries or stipulations. Divorce has become a commonplace and acceptable action, transforming marriage into a mere technicality. "Love" is a term applied to even the slightest situation or infatuation. Society dictates that marriage be financially and socially beneficial, an action taken not because two people are meant to be together, but because it is the practical conclusion to a relationship. People are not expected to go through life looking for a soul mate, but a partner to share the burdens and responsibilities of raising a family.
Literature does not present one comprehensible viewpoint on soul mates. In Wuthering Heights, Heathcliff lives his life completely enamored with Catherine. Then, when Heathcliff realizes that Catherine will never be his, he sets out on a path of revenge. He acts unscrupulously until the remnants of his one-time soul essentially disappear. His actions put to question his love for Catherine. If Heathcliff was truly Catherine's soul mate, he would never set out to hurt Catherine, because how Catherine felt would be more important than how he did. On the opposite end, in Like Water for Chocolate, Tita is separated from Pedro, her true love, by circumstances beyond their control. The family tradition demands that as the youngest daughter, Tita stays unmarried to care for her mother in old age. Tita's and Pedro's devotion to one another never goes away, and in the end they die from their overwhelming love.
I believe that we all have someone that we are meant to be with, that there is one person who will fill the gaps in your own life, as you will theirs. I think that people jump into marriage when they don't really love one another, and simply are not compatible; when people get married, they are in for the long haul. If you are truly soul mates, no one and nothing can tear you apart. Love, in my opinion, can conquer all things. A soul mate is something that all people need, and it is not until you find yours that you even know what you are missing.
