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I think there was a topic about this sometime in the past, but I’m not sure where it is. Basically, I’ve just one quick questions. You see, I’m killing a character and it’s going to be very sad for me so I’m determined to make it as sad as I can for my readers too. And the questions are these:
1. What one or two book (or movie) deaths are the saddest you’ve ever seen?
2. (A bonus for this one if you want to answer it) What, in your opinion, made the aforementioned deaths so heart wrenching?
INTJ - Inhumane. No-feelings. Terrible. Judgment and doom on everyone.
1. Have you heard of/read/seen the Divergent series? They were OK books. In the last book, though, a character dies, and that’s probably the saddest death I’ve read in a book. I was literally bawling.
2. I think what made it so sad was that this character sacrificed her life so that her brother wouldn’t die. If the character dies for a noble cause, it makes the death scene even more heart-wrenching, in my opinion.1. A spoilery death in Horatio Hornblower (KATE, COME CRY WITH ME)
2. Again, sacrifice. Literally the last thing on this character’s mind was himself. He was dying and he knew it, but was trying to not make a big deal out of it for his friend’s sake. He was his old, cheerful self right up to the end. *deep, calming breath* So, sacrifice, selflessness and keeping the character’s personality.*Cries dutifully, then realizes who you were referring to @writefury and starts bawling in earnest*
Yes. That death. Totally that death. It’s not just that he sacrificed his life, either— he sacrificed his reputation. See @hope, the MC had just been framed for a crime he didn’t commit and no one could prove he hadn’t committed it. So the MC’s best friend, who had been fatally wounded, came out and ‘confessed’ to the crime even though he hadn’t committed it, and died with that stain on his name, taking unmerited shame on himself to save his friend’s reputation. So, again, ultimate sacrifice.
But the reason for the death, as significant and important as it is, is not the only thing you need to work on. The scene itself is very important— and if there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s ‘keep it simple’. Stay in character. Don’t try and be dramatic. (That’s a hard one for me 😉 ) State it simply and factually, and the impact will be a hundred times heavier. No glowing, angelic, famous last words— no sublime revelation, no sacred glow. No meaningless platitudes about peace and love— no philosophy, I guess I’m trying to say. However they may come to regard it in the future, this right now is TRAGEDY for the characters who survive— they’ll be far too busy grieving to be saintlike.
The last words of the character from Hornblower that Rosey and I are talking about are very simple— and slam-you-into-the-floor tear-your-heart-out beautiful. ‘It’s all I have to give, Horatio. Please accept it— just take what’s given and say goodbye.’*eyes fill with tears, lower lip starts to quiver* I don’t know whether to cry more for the character from Hornblower or for the character you’re killing, @hope. How about both? Thanks.
*wails heartbrokenly* Is this who I said it ought to be, @hope? No… no… no, I’m going to die!Which is all the more reason for you to carry through with it. 😉
@kate-flournoy Yes, I’m afraid it is. I struggled with it for a bit, but it really is the best (and most traumatizing choice). I’m afraid most of my family is thinking I’m a bit weird because I’ve been talking about how I have to kill someone in my story and they’re all like ‘why?’ So now I’m working on making it as traumatic for everyone else as possible.
INTJ - Inhumane. No-feelings. Terrible. Judgment and doom on everyone.
*huddles down and hides face in hands, whimpering and sobbing and clutching dark hair with long white fingers* I’m gonna cry.
I am so gonna cry.
The death of Boromir was one of my favorite chapters in TLOTR. I also just read Dreamlander recently and that book has perhaps the most heart-wrenching death I’ve ever read. It’s got to compete with ATOTC though, so it’s real close.
I’d say there are three main ways to do a tragic death:
1. The sacrificial death – where one character dies for another
2. The Redemptional death – where a character dies as the ultimate triumph of him conquering his personal struggles/temptations and coming to peace with the theme.
3. The death of a Hero. (This is where a key player in a story dies so as to leave you wondering “how in the world can the good guys win now?”)
(There is also the death of a villain which can be very tragic, but I’m not going to go into that here.)One thing that can make these extra powerful is to combine them. That’s probably why I loved the Dreamlander death so much since it combined both 1 and 2.
Now allow me to ramble about all sorts of little things. First of all, it’s not always bad to have warm philosophical quotables in a tragic scene. Proof – ATOTC – done. Also, while it is very important to have the person who dies to be loved by the reader, it is almost just as important to have someone left after the character dies who will be deeply grieved by that character’s death and who loves that character deeply (this person must also be loved by the reader of course). Another thing about tragic deaths is that the character must be focused on others while they are dying or if they are concerned about themselves, it will be because of the fear they might have harmed others while they lived. Another important thing how others are acting during the death. I mean really, what would be ATOTC without those monsters of revolutionaries at the death scene as a stark contrast. Also, “trivial” things become everything at death. The last compliment to an extremely loyal but trouble-magnetic friend becomes tear-inspiring. A pat on the back is like all the feeling in the world packed till it is touchable. Details are all important.
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Oh yes, Boromir, definitely. Both sacrificial and redemptive.
Come to think of it, Thorin’s death as well, @hope, though in the movie. The one in the book wasn’t all that impressive.
Thorin’s death was neither sacrificial nor redemptive, and so it was more bitter than, say, Sydney Carton’s death in A Tale of Two Cities, but it worked because he died accomplishing the one thing that had driven him forward all his life since he was very young. He died content. He died completely okay with going— leaving nothing undone behind him. And the scene itself was so killing because he made things right with Bilbo— at last, after all that time, they were completely friends, with absolutely nothing between them. ‘If more of us valued home and cheer above hoarded gold, the world would be merrier place. Forgive me— I was too blind to see it.’
The details in that scene are also mind-blowing. Just little things— conveying a very raw, simple, undiluted emotion. And that last bit… where Bilbo bends his head down and tries to show Thorin that the eagles had come, to show him that the battle had been won… and I’m just sitting there sobbing, going ‘It’s too late, Bilbo; too late, he’s already gone.’
Well, you’ve seen it. You know what I’m talking about.And @Daeus, I don’t have a problem with philosophy, just philosophy to the extent that it becomes melodramatic, which it too often does.
Good points, everyone.
And no more, @Daeus. I. Am. Reading. Dreamland! And now I will try to forget that someone is going to die and hope that, this time, everything will turn out right.
INTJ - Inhumane. No-feelings. Terrible. Judgment and doom on everyone.
@hope Ooops! At least I didn’t tell you who it is. You are going to love Dreamlander.
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Ok. I’m going to do my very best to describe the scene and hope I don’t mess it up.
Probably nobody else on here has heard of Counted Worthy by Leah E. Good since she is a very new author and it’s her first book. But honestly, this is easily the most heart wrenching story I’ve ever read. It is futuristic and semi-dystopian. The MC lives in a world where Christians are put to death unless they renounce their faith and *SPOILER ALERT* her father is arrested. In the end of the book she is allowed to see her father and she has to sit there with him while he is being put to death for his faith. To get the full impact you have to read the book but it’s so sad. Books don’t usually make me cry but this one brought me very close.
Moral of the story: I think when you have a character working toward a goal (a.k.a rescuing their father) but that goal is made void by the other characters death then it pulls at the heartstrings. Especially when the MC has to face fears, go through trials, learn lessons, and possibly run for their own lives for the very purpose of this goal only to have it be for naught. After that is a good place to add in a new goal/ dream for your character.
Hope I explained that right.
HC
I is a little late, but I’ve been busy so I know you will forgive me.
First and foremost. The Book Thief is the most heart-wrenching story I have ever had the privilege to own. I
readreread it again recently and was literally sobbing for the last three-quarters of it. Even though I already knew what happened. There are about two dozen different scene which are tear inspiring. The why is harder because I am not thinking all that clearly while reading these scenes. But I think a huge part of it is the innocence of the different characters to which these unfortunate events happen. Also the majority of the main characters are children (with exception of three. Four if you count Max I suppose) and the author did a brilliant job of illustrating the raw emotions of a 9-15 year old.
But I must include my close follow-up. Because I can. The Maze Runner. I am a huge fan and consequently must explain to you the pain invoked by the author James Dashner. There are two deaths in the series which are especially sad. (Though several times as many deaths overall.) Avoiding spoilers… a death in the first book. This was the innocence factor, and then also this was a character which Thomas (the main character) was especially attached too. I say no more lest I should spoil. The second death occurred in the third book.I will be completely honest and say the first time I read it, there were no tears. Instead I threw the book at a wall. But I have cried many tears since, so it counts. For me what was so sad about this character’s death was (a) they already had an extremely sad backstory which just so happened to be revealed not even 2 pages before their death. So compound sadness. (b) The character had a vulneribilty to them which made me very protective of them and finally (c) it was on of those character which just deserved better. Everything about them made you want to wrap them up in a blanket and give them a glass of tea.I hope this helps and wasn’t just useless rambling…
If it a sacrificial or maybe redemptive death, trick your reader with the possibility the character might escape death or at least have them think about what life could be if they did. Focus on what they are giving up more than the death itself.
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@hannah-c I’ve read that book! It is especially sad because you think her dad is going to be set free and not die, but then he does. As far as saddest deaths, the first one I think of is Walter in “Rilla of Ingleside” (In the Anne of Green Gables series) I don’t exactly know why it is the saddest, but maybe it is because we are able to read a letter he wrote before he died after we already know he is dead.
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@Daeus You wrote that as I was writing my comment, but I guess I backed you up (when I was talking about the dad in “Counted Worthy) ! 🙂
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