Comments on: When the wrong character dies

By: Clix

Clix — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 00:35:30 +0000

So now I’m curious about character deaths we DO like – not in the sense of “he was a jerk and got what was coming to him!” but when it’s a character we’ve grown to love but whose death is written in such a compelling way that it’s perfect for the story and (almost?) makes up for having to say goodbye.

By: Kristin Laughtin

Kristin Laughtin — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 22:27:38 +0000

When I was in ninth grade, I remember giving a very adamant book report to my English teacher about why Alice should have died (like the movie) instead of Cora in THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. I don’t know if I’d still agree, but I was very passionate about that point at that age.

Since a lot of people are mentioning Harry Potter, I was pretty mad about Tonks, but I felt she kind of got the shaft in general in the last two books.

By: Andrea

Andrea — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 19:03:11 +0000

Not my favourite book, but in The Magician´s Apprentice, Trudi Canavan kills off Lord Dakon just by mentioning his assassination. No explanation, no scene, no one talking about it… And that was the only character I truly cared about! I was really fed up with the book after that.

In Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, it almost seemed that J.K. Rowling was enjoying killing off characters. I know about the symbolism, but did Hedwig and Dobby really have to die? There are more symbols than death and a character can “die” in different ways. Hedwig and Dobby´s deaths did not really affect the plot.

In my own novel project, I was planning to kill off one of the major characters, but my boyfriend vetoed that idea because he likes that character too much… He did have a point though.

By: Miriam

Miriam — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 18:57:20 +0000

I see you guys are with me in that we readers are a vengeful, angry lot. I agree with you in that it stinks to feel manipulated by an author who uses death as a cheap emotional ploy. And, I haven’t read the GAME OF THRONES books…are they really that good?

By: Clix

Clix — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 16:39:50 +0000

It really ticks me off when an author creates a sweet, weak sidekick-type character so that when it’s killed off the reader feels an emotional impact. YES PATRICK NESS I AM TALKING ABOUT YOU. He’s not the only one, though; Philip Pullman did it TWICE. In each case I saw it coming, thought “nah… a good writer wouldn’t rely on sloppy-easy bathos,” and subsequently lost any respect I had for the author.

In each of those cases I found the main character insufferable as well and would MUCH rather have had him/her snuffed.

OTOH, the death of Ruby Gillis was masterful.

By: Suilan

Suilan — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 11:26:09 +0000

In “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix”, I would kill Harry Potter instead of Sirius Black.
*Spoiler alert*

Honestly! Sirius had given Harry a magical mirror to contact him if he ever needed to, but Harry forgot about it! Instead, he relied on what creepy Kreacher told him and went headlong into the dumbest “rescue” mission ever, which then got his godfather killed (and not even heroically, Sirius just fell through this stupid veil thing). But the worst thing about it: Harry doesn’t even realize that it was all his own fault and stupidity! Afterwards, he just feels sorry for himself because he lost another family member and isn’t that terribly unfair. Gah!

It would be fine as written if Ms. Rowling had just left the magical mirrors out.

By: Artemesia

Artemesia — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 08:21:32 +0000

Aimee, I totally agree about Ned Stark, but there have been a lot of character deaths in that series I was pretty upset about (I’ve only read the first 4) but the one that bothered me the most was the Hound. I was really starting to like him. Weird, I know. I’m not totally convinced he’s really dead, tho…

And there are a number of characters from Harry Potter that in my mind still live. Just because there were two Weasley twins didn’t mean it was ok to kill off one of them.

But Manchee the dog from the Knife of Never Letting Go made me want to throw the book against the wall. I read the rest of the trilogy and loved it, but I will never forgive Patrick Ness for Manchee.

By: Ryan

Ryan — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 01:03:02 +0000

I’ve actually had readers e-mail me and message me to let me know they’d come after me if I killed off certain characters in a series. Of course it’s all joking around…to a certain extent.

The characters I probably would have killed off in a recent novel would be the two main characters in Franzen’s “Freedom.” I wouldn’t have killed off the one he killed off. But the fact that I’m talking about it now, and remembering it, probably says Franzen did the right thing.

By: MS

MS — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 00:15:42 +0000

Thank you for the high honor you have bestowed on me in choosing my humble entry as winner of the Pitching Contest. I will treasure the mug, always. I’d like to thank my husband, my third grade teacher, my dog and my agent-to-be, Miriam! 😀

I’ve always wondered what Jane Eyre would have done if Mr. Rochester had been killed in the fire instead of (only) horribly maimed…but then we never would have gotten to see Timothy Dalton in a high neck waistcoat with one eye all taped shut, would we? lol

Another character that might have been better off dead was dear, sweet Amelia in Vanity Fair. Annoying creature! It would have been very entertaining to have her dying of…let’s say, cholera, and have Becky show up as her nurse. Rest in peace, little Emmy! 😉

By: Aimee Stwart

Aimee Stwart — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 00:03:11 +0000

Eddard Stark dying in the end of Game of Thrones? That truly sucked. It was important for the story, though.
And Victoria, I’m with you too. I was so pissed off with Message in a Bottle that I never read any Sparks again. For real, I can hold grudges for ages.