If you’re writing an adventure novel, the odds are high that someone is going to die. Not only that, but your protagonist may have to be the killer. This raises the question, when is it okay for your protagonist—the good guy (or gal)—to kill? Is it ever right?
Is killing always wrong?
The difficult thing about killing in fiction is that wartime ethics have a lot of grey areas. Biblical principles arguably go against the extremes of a pacifistic attitude where all killing is wrong and of a more utilitarian approach that treats all killing as fine. That being said, settling on a middle course that properly avoids either extreme can be much more difficult to determine. Given that many philosophers and theologians have had difficulties coming up with a single answer to this question, it is likely that, to some extent, it’s likely that we won’t be able to get rid of all the grey areas that can be present in this difficult issue.
That being said, there is a biblical basis for taking a life. In Romans 13, God declares that he’s given the government the power of the sword. So in cases of just war (although what exactly qualifies a just war is another discussion entirely), the taking of life is justified.
In addition to this, traditionally, the sixth commandment is understood as not being a negative commandment only, but also a positive command. We’re not just supposed to refrain from taking life—we’re commanded to protect and preserve life as well. When there are therefore threats to the lives of innocents, the process of protecting their lives may require taking out the lives of those who are threatening harm.
There are more robust defenses that could be offered for self-defense or for other cases when killing is justified, but there are cases when it is justified. And so, there are cases when characters in your novel are morally justified for taking a life. That being said, I’m not sure that it’s always profitable to make sure that every life that your protagonist takes is taken justly. The reality of the situation is that, in high-pressure situations in real-life, mistakes are made. People aren’t perfect. There is moral justification for killing in certain situations, but we want to avoid creating impossibly-perfect characters. So do seek to uphold moral standards in your writing. But beware the trap of black-and-white characters.
How we portray the taking of life is more important
The main way we show the merit of a certain action or depiction in our stories is how we show the consequences for that specific action. Even good characters can make mistakes, especially in war. If a wrong killing takes place in your story, regardless of who committed it, there should be negative consequences, because that is reality.
As Haley Long explains,
“In a novel of mine, one of my characters, Matt murders a police man. He reacts in the moment choosing to take a life so he could escape the consequences of being caught with drugs. After he realizes what he’s done he abandons his sister (breaking a promise he made to their mother) and runs. (He doesn’t get captured until the next book.) I made certain that Matt’s actions were depicted in a bad light; he suffers consequences of deserting his sister and in the sequel pays the price for what he did.
As a Christian writer I strive to display sin as sin. It would be wrong to paint it any other way.”
What about mercy killings?
When I think about mercy killings, I am reminded of the scene in The Hunger Games during the climax where Cato is slowly being mauled to death by mutated dogs, and Katniss puts an end to his misery with an arrow. My gut reaction to her firing the arrow was that it was wrong. She shouldn’t have taken his life since he was no longer a threat…but was that gut reaction correct? Is it really wrong to kill a person to put them out of their misery? Is it really wrong to euthanize?
God is the creator of human life. He gives it and He takes it away. As Christians we cannot value another's life too highly, nor presume to take the place of God in ending another's life, even if it seems the merciful thing to do. But physical suffering and pain happen in this life, and as Christians it is our desire to help and serve those who are in pain and suffering. Isn't that the Christ-like thing to do? Even if it means taking their life?
While there are no direct commands in the Bible regarding euthanasia, there are many examples we can draw from. Look at Job. Being in horrible pain and suffering, Job's wife urges him to "curse God and die". Yet Job replies "Shall we receive good from God, and shall we not receive evil?”. We must be careful before we presume to take into our own hands the life of another.
Jesus, in his final hours on the cross, as the criminal hanging on another cross professed his faith in him, replied simply "today you will be with me in paradise."(Luke 23:43) He could have put him out of his misery right then, but instead he chose to speak to him of the hope that lay ahead. Should we not do the same? R.C. Sproul has said "If we err, it is better to err in the favor of life than to cheapen it in anyway." While there is no scripture condemning mercy-killing, but the subject should be approached prayerfully and reverentially, with an emphasis on the life to come, knowing that "our light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison"(1 Corinthians 4:17).
Are you showing the value of life?
Looking at Gen. 9:5-6, we see human life is valuable to God. He made us in "His own image". We all know this, but how often do we really dwell on this reality. Even if you don’t believe the culture’s lie that we were just an accident and time is all that separates us from slime…it still can be easy to forget our value and unbelievable worth. But what gives us this worth is God, not any of our skills or abilities. After all, the value of something is determined by how much someone is willing to pay for it. God was willing to pay with the torturous death of His Son. I’d say we’re worth quite a bit.
Yet we forget, and we’re constantly devaluing ourselves and others. We judge ourselves and others by what we can do, or what we look like, but these things are not what give us our worth.
Therefore, everyone who was created by God has value. It doesn’t matter if they’re still in the womb, and haven’t contributed anything to society. It doesn’t matter if they are aged to the point where they are no longer capable of taking care of themselves. Worth is not diminished. Life is valuable.
We need stories to remind us of this truth. We don’t value human life in our Western society, and too often we judge people based on what they can do, rather than who they are, and the fact that they were conceived by God before the foundation of time, and they are made in the image of the Creator.
The irony is that valuing life may sometimes mean the use of lethal force is necessary. Sometimes the only way to stop those who mean to murder is by ending their life before they could commit such a terrible sin. And if a wrongful killing takes place in your story, uphold the value of life by depicting the devastating and real negative consequences that would result.
Every situation will be different.Usually, killing in self-defense, or the defense of others, is justified, but other times, it may be better to not defend yourself. However, how your main character reacts, and/or what the consequences are, should always display the value of human life.
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Wow… GREAT POST! This is something I have definitely struggled with in my writing. I don’t like unnecessary gore, but this article really put that into great context. You can have killing without gore. Killing itself is only as gory as you choose to describe it. And I totally agree with the warning against black and white characters. That’s one of my pet arguments. Who wants a perfect protagonist? Besides being unrealistic, it gets really boring.
This has nothing to do with the context of the post… but I found several typos in the text, and I found it a little distracting. Otherwise, perfect! These articles, and this sight, are really challenging and thought provoking, as well as inspiring. They make me glad to be storyteller all over again!
Wow. That was good. In the 2nd scene in my story idea, the hero kills another boy in an accident. I hadn’t really thought about how I should portray his personal consequences. Of course, there are external consequences, (he’s imprisoned for manslaughter,) but I hadn’t thought seriously about how my hero destroyed a precious life God created. Or how my sensitive hero would feel about it.
Which brings me nicely to the thought I had myself when reading this: I feel the characters, even if they take a life because the situation justifies it, should not be okay with it, should be unsettled by it in some way. Maybe it’s a reaction that only kicks in later, but I feel it should happen.
Very well put! Thank you for taking the time to think these things through, and putting them into words. As a believer who grew up in the church, I often know all these truths already, having been taught them from childhood. But it is so helpful to have them laid out and organized like this, especially in the context of writing! Thank you again, for the time you put into this, and for sharing!
I like this a lot. I’ve been wondering about mercifull killing a lot, and this has put my mind to rest. Thank you.
My dad, who is a pastor, says that there’s a difference between murder and between killing in war. God authorized rulers to have the power/ability to start or join a war, and then to kill, either personally or through their soldiers. There’s a difference between killing because you feel like it and killing because you are a soldier in a war authorized by your ruler. I would also add that there is a difference between killing on purpose, and killing for self defense. For example, in the play Oedipus the King, Oedipus kills his father because his father attacks him. He has no idea that the man attacking him is his father; all he cares about is survival, so he defends himself. And of course, there’s killing on accident, which is a whole other topic: whether it’s wrong or not, people will do it, and so your main character might.