Grieving for characters (SPOILERS)

seun · Apr 12, 2009

Spoliers for King's Dark Tower books and Dracula.

Confession time: which characters have you grieved for? Maybe it's in your own fiction or in famous books. Whose death hurt you?

MASSIVE spoliers following:

For me, a lot of the deaths in King's Dark Tower books stung. I'm re-reading them now, am up to book five and Susan's death in book four was horrible. What's worse is knowing who buys it in book seven.

Also, Quincy in Dracula was a harsh one probably because it was so near the end.

So, whose death got to you?

M.W. Palmer · Apr 12, 2009

I think I've only cried for a couple of characters once in my life. It's been years since I've read this book, but I believe the characters were called Old Dan and Little Anne. They were two hunting dogs from the book "Where the Red Ferns Grow."

KCathy · Apr 12, 2009

I have a very clear memory of the dwarf's death in The Sword of Shannara by Terry Brooks. I was on a road trip with my family at age 13 and I sobbed like a baby in the backseat of our Colt Vista. My parents were really concerned, but luckily were also book lovers capable of understanding me.

Also what's-her-face in The Bridge to Terabithia and what's-his-face in Freak the Mighty. Apparently their deaths made bigger impressions than their names.

I can't remember any more recent ones than those three, all from my teenage years, although surely I've cried over book deaths since then. Maybe those made a lasting impact because of my age at the time?

schrei · Apr 12, 2009

When Dumbledore and Sirius died in Harry Potter, I was devastated. I didn't read much back then but after reading Sirius's death, I made a pact with myself never to read another book. Then HP6 came out. I should have expected it...

Ol' Fashioned Girl · Apr 12, 2009

Old Yeller.

I never trusted a writer again. Ever.

Chauchat Butterfly · Apr 12, 2009

M.W. Palmer said:
I think I've only cried for a couple of characters once in my life. It's been years since I've read this book, but I believe the characters were called Old Dan and Little Anne. They were two hunting dogs from the book "Where the Red Ferns Grow."

I could barely get throughthe last two chapters of that book.

Anyway, Jan Bronski's death in The Tin Drum hit me pretty hard primarily because by the end of the three chapter arc that leads up to it, his mind has completely broken down and when they capture him and line him up with the others he has no idea what's about to happen to him. The parting shot of him smiling and waving at Oskar nearly broke me.

Also, not gonna lie to ya, I cried during Dumbledore's funeral.

Krisela · Apr 12, 2009

I was upset by pretty much everything that happened in the final chapters of The Last Battle, the closing book of the Narnia series. Worst. Ending. Ever. I was traumatised for weeks!

Enna · Apr 12, 2009

Where the Red Fern Grows...I read that when I was 12, it just broke my heart.

Well, this isn't a death but might as well have been...Will and Lyra saying goodbye forever at the end of The Amber Spyglass. I just finished it a few days ago, and it's really sticking with me. So sad...

deserata · Apr 12, 2009

I can't think of another character death that affected me as much as Where the Red Fern Grows. The teacher read it aloud to us in 4th grade and we were all pretty much sobbing...

dgrintalis · Apr 12, 2009

When I was very small, The Little Match Girl. I still cry when Stephen King kills off characters that I've grown to love.

dancingandflying · Apr 12, 2009

M.W. Palmer said:
I think I've only cried for a couple of characters once in my life. It's been years since I've read this book, but I believe the characters were called Old Dan and Little Anne. They were two hunting dogs from the book "Where the Red Ferns Grow."

YES. I cried so hard when I read this book.

d&f.

Fade · Apr 12, 2009

Etain in Order 66. She was soooooo close to her happy ending.

Marie · Apr 12, 2009

When I read I have four reactions to character death:
-cry for so long over good guy I loved because they died
-laugh sadistically because evil bad guy died
-cry because a bad guy challenging the MC who I now despise has died.
-laugh because MC/MC's friend when I didn't like MC died.

esuna said:
I can't think of another character death that affected me as much as Where the Red Fern Grows. The teacher read it aloud to us in 4th grade and we were all pretty much sobbing...

Yeah, our 4th grade teacher read this to us to, but it was at the end of the year and we didn't finish it. I bought it and read it in a hotel when we were moving. It was sooo sad.

circlexranch · Apr 12, 2009

I still haven't forgiven Stephen King for killing Henry Leyden in 'Black House.' One of the best characters ever.

As for Susan Delgado, I apologize to fans, but I was ready to throw her on the fire myself. One thing Roland didn't need was an over-ripe baby machine latching onto him at the age of 16.

I refuse to even think about animal characters who die in kid's books. It'll puddle me up too quickly.

shokadh · Apr 12, 2009

Sydney Carton in A Tale of Two Cities by Dickens

"It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest that I go to than I have ever known."

It was the best of deaths, it was the worst of deaths...

geardrops · Apr 12, 2009

I've never cried at a character death.

I did cry when Frodo left Sam, though. Like a little girl with a skinned knee.

scarletpeaches · Apr 12, 2009

Charlotte the spider.

firedrake · Apr 12, 2009

The velveteen rabbit.

Delhomeboy · Apr 12, 2009

Ben in Look Homeward, Angel, and whomever mentioned A Tale of Two Cities. The death itself was sad, but yeah, the famous line at the very end made it all the worse.

Dale Emery · Apr 12, 2009

Algernon. And (pre-emptively) Charlie.

dreamsofnever · Apr 12, 2009

Dale Emery said:
Algernon. And (pre-emptively) Charlie.

Oh, that was so sad!

I also was very sad about Fred's death in Harry Potter (and all of the other deaths!)

That, and I'm mourning a character I killed off in my WIP. When I first wrote his death, I didn't spend much time on developing him as a character, but then I went back on subsequent edits and gave him more dimension and more story time and when I just rewrote the chapter with his death and funeral, I cried like a baby!

EFCollins · Apr 12, 2009

Beth March from Little Women. I cried like a baby when she died in that book and hated Miss Alcott for a long time after reading it. Where the Red Fern Grows never fails to make me cry. Those are the worst.

RavenCorinnCarluk · Apr 12, 2009

I cry at character deaths when it's someone who really touched me. I have been a part of this world for however many pages, and it gets to me when they're gone.

I cried at Where the Red Fern Grows, and I even cried at Old Yeller, even though I'd already seen (and cried at) the movie. But I didn't read a whole lot of kids/young adult books when I was a kid, and I don't recall crying at much of my dad's books.

The next major book I cried at was Moreta Dragonlady of Pern. I sobbed for twenty minutes at the end of that book. I cried a bit when Gerald Tarrant "died" in the Coldfire Trilogy. While he didn't die, Cormac going to jail in Carrie Vaughn's Kitty series has made me cry a lot, but mostly for personal reasons.

jodiodi · Apr 12, 2009

I cry whenever there's an animal involved. I recall crying all through Cujo 'cause the poor dog didn't know what was wrong and had tried to be a good dog. My mother, heart of stone she had, but she cried reading that book too.

I won't read any books anymore which have animals in them if there is any inkling that the animal might die or even be threatened. Actually, if there are animals brought into the story of a book, I look for any reference to the animal at the ending to see if it is OK at the end of the book. If I don't find any reference, I won't read it. If I see the animal mentioned and still alive, I'll get the book and read it.

I can't take animal deaths or even animal peril or discomfort. I won't watch movies that I know have animals being hurt in them. I'll cry for days and be depressed.

Oddly, people deaths don't bother me.

Ol' Fashioned Girl · Apr 12, 2009

Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol.

Yeah... yeah. I know. Just listen to the words. I identified with very young Mr. Magoo.

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