: How do I kill a protagonist in a first person point of view? I'm writing a novel in which the story is told from a first person pov. I don't want it to be predictable so I feel that if

Vote Up Vote Down

I wrote a story in first person in which the narrator died. I placed the death at near the end and switched to a third person POV to give the final scene that explained the affect of the narrator's death.

I found this allowed the reader to feel like they where still in the narrator's mind, floating outside what was happening, not allowing the reader to attach themselves to someone else.

(0)

Vote Up Vote Down

There are several examples that come to mind, where this technique was used effectively:

Michael Crichton - Jurassic Park - several characters (not all necessarily protagonists), are killed, and Crichton has them narrate through their own death. Definitely worth reading, I found his techniques very memorable.
In some popular movies, in different forms, offhand the following come to mind:

the recent movie "Joy" - I don't want to spoil it for anyone - but the movie is narrated by a character who dies somewhere during the movie (the character narrates before, during and after death)
some movies that are Quentin Tarantino-esq, where the character dies in an early scene - but then the rest of the movie is out of chronological order - so the main character can narrate their own death.
other movies. the main character is narrating most of the movie, and at one point, the main character is killed, and continues narrating - so you realize the entire story is being told "past tense". American Beauty is one popular example.
Also, Jesus Christ Superstar comes to mind: Judas, who is essentially the main character and (oddly) spun as both protagonist and antagonist - his death is portrayed from the first-person POV (and while singing, too! : )

(0)

Vote Up Vote Down

There is a old idea that in the moment of one's death, their whole life flashes before their eyes. Perhaps your entire story, up to the point where the narrator dies, is just their giving voice to that final moment; reviewing the facts of her life on her way to face Judgement. This approach will grant your narrator hidden fore knowledge which can justify any foreshadowing which you work into your prose.

Killing your pov character midway through a story is a powerful tool, but it leaves your readers without a guide for the remainder of your tale. You can avoid this issue by splitting the pov between two characters earlier in the story. If you shift between two narrators repeatedly during the first few chapters, you can still use the survivor to narrate the remaining pages.

Finally, be careful with how you build your disposable narrator. If the soon-to-be-deceased is, in any way, a sympathetic character, then their death may wound your readers emotionally and will definitely cost you their trust. We may all enjoy a good George R.Martin novel, but we don't trust him. We have learned not to get too attached to any of his characters, because they usually don't last very long.

(0)

Vote Up Vote Down

If the main character is eventually the enemy in the book (because she's hurting people) and her death would be a good thing for the people around her, then the end of the story would be relief on her part as she's dying or killing herself, because then she can't hurt anyone else. But the main story ends when she dies.

Your only real issue to address is what to do for the denouement, the wrap-up after her death to show that she succeeded in stopping herself from causing others more pain. Whether you change POV or have her ghost/spirit/etc. view others' reactions is up to you.

(0)

Vote Up Vote Down

This has been done in John Grisham's The Testament. Read Chapter One which is in first-person at: John Grisham's The Testament on Amazon.

Prologue?

The rest of the book is what happens after the rich old man kills himself.
It is possible, but it is quite odd. It's really more of a prologue that sets up the story so you could do it that way.

(0)