: Re: Do modern readers believe the first person narrator can't die? Back in highschool in the 90s we had an assignment to write an extra chapter for a book. After some discussion the teacher told

@Kevin153

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When reading, I generally assume that a first person narrator likely won't die unless, as in the examples provided in previous responses, it is announced or explained early on in the story.

However, this doesn't mean there's no tension. There are other stakes beyond life vs. death to consider.

I also think it is worth noting that the majority of first-person-narrated books have been written in the past tense. That is, with expressions such as "I saw," "I did," "he looked at me," etc. This type of structure strongly implies to me that the narrator is recounting the story, and thus that they have survived its events to do so. But as you've said there are some first-person stories told in the present tense -- "I see," "I do," "he looks at me," etc. Think of the Hunger Games and Divergent series. First person in the present tense makes it seem much more likely to me as a reader that the narrator might not survive to recount the story because its not really necessary logically. The plot could even continue if a new first person, or even third person narrator took over where the original one left things.

In my opinion as a reader, first person does not reduce tension if properly executed, and the tense does matter. If your story involves life-or-death stakes, I would choose to narrate in the present. But, there are many other kinds of tension than forcing the reader to ask will they die? -- even a first-person-past narrator may be recounting the story from a different country, decades later with a new family, or from a hospital bed, dictating their life story at the last opportunity they'll ever have. If it's a more personal, character-driven story than an epic adventure of numerous perils, narrating in the past might actually maintain more tension -- They're going to pull through this mess somehow, surely, but how on earth will they ever get their life back together? Will they be the same person on the other side?

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