: Re: "The more fleshed out the character is, the more the reader will care about him". Always true? I have a problem with the protagonist of one of my stories. In the story he's in, he dies at

@Alves689

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As a long-time dedicated reader of excellent fiction I should like to draw attention (in your specific context) to one of the greatest examples of a novel dealing with self-sacrifice, A Prayer for Owen Meany, where John Irving's entire book is about characterization of major protagonists specifically leading up to one of them sacrificing themself to save many others at the finish, which still comes as a real surprise for the reader.

It is not really a question of making a character 'likeable.' The value of detailed characterization done right is to transform someone into a fully-developed personality as real in the reader's mind as any real person. That's why an author can take a whole novel to do that and many authors tend to 'save' their character at the last minute! However John Irving was here specifically characterizing to give readers the full sense of a 'real person' leading up to their death in the self-sacrifice event.

I could cry when I think about it though I read this book 18 years ago at the age of 20. The emotional shock and the tremendous impact of this great work comes almost entirely from the in-depth characterization, as also avoidance of explicit foreshadowing of the sacrifice, though the author does give subtle hints which may be really understood only after the event -- I was (and I am sure many others would be) so emotionally invested in this character and others, that I ended up wishing desperately that this person shouldn't die, and deeply saddened when the ultimate inevitability occurs. The character even says, in effect

don't grieve -- my whole life was literally a preparation for this event; and I am truly glad to save these people even though I shall perish in the process (paraphrase)

which really hits the reader hard, reminds me of a certain God, and should answer your question!

Other famous examples of literary works where very detailed characterization was primarily responsible for making me (and certainly many other readers) care deeply about a major character who dies by the end of the novel include

(1) Les Miserables by Victor Hugo

(2) Larry McMurtry's Lonesome Dove

(3) Killing Mister Watson by Peter Mathiessen

(4) The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver and

(5) David Morrell's Last Reveille.

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