: Re: Killing the protagonist - should it be done? I am an aspiring author, but I have written several short 'test novels.' With each of those, it became increasingly clear how you have to develop

@Samaraweera193

Vote Up Vote Down

The protagonist inspires an idea, a symbol. And ideas and symbols never die. Killing the protagonist is certainly something broadly criticized, but because of what to expect, not the death itself.

It is what i say to people many times. You did not like the movie, alright. I will not convince you that you should like it. But think: What did you expect to see? Did the movie trick you to see something it was not, or it is more than you hoped to see something different than what the movie honestly prompt you to see? Because if the first is true then yes, it is a bad movie because it is a 'wannabe" movie that that advertise itself as something different. But if the second case is true, then it is your fault; you expected to see something else while you knew it wasn't!

So the question is not if you kill the protagonist or not, but if the idea, the symbol the protagonist represents is inline with a death. There are countless examples. If the protagonist will do anything at all to fulfill his beliefs, what he thinks is the right think to do, then sacrifice himself for the greater cause is not at all a "shouldn't do" thing. Protagonist at Armageddon sacrifice himself to save mankind. Obviously it was intended - the super top tech switch did not work? Really? And there wasn't a secondary one? Really? Everything was doubled except the remote control?? Not at all. The story had to say exactly this, the protagonist will try as hard as it gets for the greater cause, giving his own life if he had to.

So it is not a matter of kill the protagonist or not. It is a matter of what the story wants to tell to the readers. A story of type "good always win at the end if you try hard and believe", which is also very popular, cannot kill the protagonist. It does not tell the story! A story of type "Solid noble heroes will always prevail no matter odds or cost", this may require sacrifice to tell the story.

Even if you want to continue your story afterwards, sacrificing the protagonist will not halt you. As said, it is about the idea, the symbol, not the protagonist itself. The next protagonist will take on the responsibility, making the idea live again, and the first old protagonist will actually live through the actions of the second. Because that is that stories type and meaning.

Of course caution is needed. If your story want to tell sacrifice for example it has to be a sacrifice. Not a suicide nor an accident not the unfortunate result of a conflict that accidentally leads to resolve the plot. If the protagonist jumps into the reactor to resolve the story and not throw in the body of his rival or a random guard or a large box that would do the same job, that is suicide and stupidity. If the protagonist vessel is shot and fall to a critical enemy vessel spot and resolve the story that is accident instead of the protagonist to use the last 10 seconds to deliberately jump in to the spot because he has no ammo left and resolve the story. If the protagonist got defeated from his antagonist and die and then the truth is revealed to the antagonist and the plot is resolved that is again not sacrifice but a deception-based ending.

(0)

Login to post a comment!