There's been a great deal of talk about Rick and his evolution/devolution or whatever you consider it over the seasons.
I have been pondering how each person dealt with post apocalyptic losses.
First, we have Morgan. Lost his wife. Couldn't kill her shell. Lost his son to his wife. Lost his ever loving mind and killed everyone on sight.
Then there's Andrea. Knew her parents were gone most likely. Lost her sister to a walker. Finished her off. Wanted to die at the CDC. Dale drags her out of there. Wants Michonne to leave her to save herself. Finds Woodbury. IMO, sacrifices self for 2 groups of people while trying to make peace/change and then kill Phillip. Dies.
Dr. Jenner chooses to die in the CDC bldg after losing his wife?? (been a while)
The Governor lost wife before ZA, has Penny left. Penny gets bitten and he keeps her "alive" hoping for a cure. Gives into his narcissistic tendencies, uses his charisma to dupe a cult following into some atrocious acts and is ruthless to all who could possibly upset his little Utopia.
Carol loses her asshole husband, then her daughter. She becomes a fairly pragmatic, if over reactive partial leader of the prison.
Herschel lost his wife, his neighbors and kept them in a barn hoping for a cure. He kept on being Herschel but lost faith that the walkers could be human again. Sure, he pulled off a bender but after that remained steady. And he got Dale's moral compass role.
Daryl lost Merle and I have no idea how he feels about it.
Rick first almost lost his life to a bunch of toothless rednecks in the line of duty. Woke up, got bonked in the head by Duane, held hostage and then tended to by Morgan. Lost Lori in a Biblical sense to his best friend. Found his family. Almost lost Carl to Otis' bullet. Gained some new family at the Greene farm. Found out about Lori and Shane. Had to kill his best friend in order to save himself. Lost lots of "family", in the form of group members (friends are family to me). Lost his wife for his or Shane's child + what's his name's deer prank. Saw men try to rape his son, bit a throat out. Had his "home" destroyed while still trying to make peace. Lost Herschel, a father figure. Now he's lost Bob because he made a dumb ass move in that basement for a little food.
I know that as leader of the group, he has more burdens to bear and I think he's okay, considering all that has transpired and YES, he has annoyed me from time to time but really, I think he's doing pretty damn well. Everyone handles emotional stress differently.
How do you think you would fare in each of these situations? Or in general? I would probably be somewhere between Rick and Carol. I'd like to say I'd be more like Herschel but that's just not how I react to dangerous situations as a rule.
ETA Michonne lost her child and boyfriend and got a little weird for a good while but survived and became human again. I may have forgotten more.