Why are writers cornered by Deus Ex?

Darzian · Dec 10, 2008

I've seen several very good stories ending in a disappointing way due to the author involving Deus Ex Machina. IMHO, it's very unfair to the reader and sometimes insults the intelligence of the reader. I'll expand on that a bit: readers would be wondering about how the plot would be resolved etc... and would be trying to put together the clues throughout the story to figure out how the story would end. Deus ex destroys all that and introduces new elements to conveniently conclude the plot. In this situation, I, as a reader, may feel that my intelligence has been insulted.

My question is simple. Why does this happen? The books are usually extremely good otherwise- but end disappointingly. I can think of a few reasons.

1) The writer is lazy. Upon reaching the end of a novel after several years of work, he just wants to finish it. Hence he does not spends enough time concluding the book meaningfully.

2) Pressure from external sources. This may be the case if the writer is popular and if there is pressure for a quick release. She may lack the time she would otherwise require to produce a good book.

3) The ending was not planned well. Upon arriving at the ending, the writer realized that he would have to heavily edit his MS to give a good ending but cannot make himself do so for various reasons.

These are just suggestions, of course. I think the last is the most likely and I hope the first is very unlikely- considering the amount of editing that a MS undergoes anyway. I'm really curious why writers find themselves in a situation where they must employ Deus Ex.

Why does it happen?

JJ Cooper · Dec 10, 2008

To save me going to a search engine and figuring out what 'Deus Ex Machina' is, then coming back and pretending I know all about it; care to explain in what that means?

I'll put my hand up on behalf of the other member here who probably isn't familiar with the term.

JJ

Mr Flibble · Dec 10, 2008

Okay JJ

The term comes from the Greek plays where the gods would appear at the end to sort everything out. So the characters didn't solve their problems, God did.

So, for our purposes it is the sudden unexpected nad contrived solution to the problem / plot. ( esp if such an ending has not been foreshadowed in the book)

If at the end of say LOTR, the gods had turned up and beaten the snot out of Sauron, or it turned out Gandalf was actually powerful enough to do so - he'd just never mentioned it before - that would be a deus ex machina.

Of course it doesn't have to be literally a god. But a sudden coincidence etc would count.

JJ Cooper · Dec 10, 2008

Thanks. So, you mean an epilogue?

JJ

Mr Flibble · Dec 10, 2008

Um no.

IIRC an epilogue is after the climax. The Deus ex machina IS the climax. The highly improbable climax tat renders the rest of the book pretty much a waste of paper.

ETA: think about War of the Worlds. The whole thing is about the fight against the Martians and how they are destroying us puny earthlings. Then DAH DAH! the common cold kills them.

JJ Cooper · Dec 10, 2008

Ok. So, because the reader didn't find the ending suitable - they call out 'Deus Ex Machina' and hang the author out to dry?

Thanks to IdiotsRUs, maybe I can now debate some points.

1. Writers aren't lazy. Despite what you may think of writer's, generally speaking - we don't get published if we are lazy.

2. Pressure. Always pressure from somewhere for the published writer, but we are professionals. If we weren't - you would abandon reading our books.

3. Ending not well planned. Move to the outine or wing-it debate. Not all writers plan. Not all writers plan their ending. Endings are subjective. Just because you didn't like it as a reader, doesn't mean it wasn't planned that way.

JJ

alleycat · Dec 10, 2008

JJ Cooper said:
Ok. So, because the reader didn't find the ending suitable - they call out 'Deus Ex Machina' and hang the author out to dry?

Still not quite right, JJ.

Think of a story where the protagonist and antagonist have battled all the way through the story; sometimes the protagonist is winning, sometimes the antagonist. Then, just when it looks like the protagonist is going to lose everything, along comes some force out of nowhere (God as machine) that suddenly saves the day. The end. It's generally very unsatisfactory to the reader.

Mr Flibble · Dec 10, 2008

Ok. So, because the reader didn't find the ending suitable - they call out 'Deus Ex Machina' and hang the author out to dry?

Well not exactly. Not that it's not suitable. Just that it's improbable / comes completely from left field. Or the characters didn't actually do anything to resolve their problem.

You have all this tension, lots of OMG! How are they going to get out of this? *bites nails* and then...and then it's a complete and utter cop out.

This probably explains better than I can.

KTC · Dec 10, 2008

I don't really care why it happens...it shouldn't happen.

JJ Cooper · Dec 10, 2008

Starting to get it now - hey look, it's turning into an educational thread (add appropriate smilie).

It's still subjective in it's application of the term, Right?

JJ

Mr Flibble · Dec 10, 2008

It's still subjective in it's application of the term, Right?

Possibly. But then if you have a novel set in say modern day London and there's a big face off between Protag and Antag and then BAM! suddenly the antag gets eaten by a heretofore unmentioned crocodile that happened to snaek out of the toilet, I think you've got a pretty good case for Deus ex machina.

Darzian · Dec 10, 2008

JJ Cooper said:
Ok. So, because the reader didn't find the ending suitable - they call out 'Deus Ex Machina' and hang the author out to dry?

Thanks to IdiotsRUs, maybe I can now debate some points.

1. Writers aren't lazy. Despite what you may think of writer's, generally speaking - we don't get published if we are lazy.

2. Pressure. Always pressure from somewhere for the published writer, but we are professionals. If we weren't - you would abandon reading our books.

3. Ending not well planned. Move to the outine or wing-it debate. Not all writers plan. Not all writers plan their ending. Endings are subjective. Just because you didn't like it as a reader, doesn't mean it wasn't planned that way.

JJ

I'm not going to degrade writers for inappropriate reasons. There is no reason for me to do so. This is an educational thread.
Deus Ex Machina is more or less unacceptable.

IdiotsRUs explained it well, but I'm afraid you haven't exactly grasped it right. It's not that an individual reader finds the ending 'suitable.' It's a situation where the entire plot is more or less rendered useless.

A perfect example comes in fantasy with magic. Certain rules for magic may have been established and readers expect the world in the story to follow those rules. However, if, at the ending, those rules are broken to resolve the story then it is probably Deus Ex. Why? Because the readers are lead to believe that those rules cannot be broken, and then we get a resolution out of nowhere. In such situations, typically the entire plot may seem meaningless as pointed out by the LOTR example above.

The entire trilogy focuses on the ring somehow being taken to Mount Doom to destroy it because Sauron cannot be directly assailed. If-suddenly- Frodo is in Mordor and finds himself surrounded by Nazgul and Orcs and cannot reach Mount Doom, and if at that moment Gandalf declares "Behold my true power!" and stabs Sauron to conclude the plot- then it is Deus Ex. Why? Because all this time we thought that Gandalf couldn't kill Sauron. And it also turns out that it wasn't necessary to take the ring to Mordor after all! What a waste of pages! That is Deus Ex.

This thread is actually meant to be educational to myself as well as to others because by discussing why Deus Ex occurs, we may be able to prevent getting into such situations in our own work. As the title reads: Why are writers cornered by Deux Ex?

alleycat · Dec 10, 2008

It seems to be particularly prevalent in science fiction and some mystery stories.

Think of one of those cheesy sci-fi movies from the fifties. The aliens invade earth. Nothing can stop them; all earth weapons are powerless against the advanced aliens. The brainy scientist (and his love interest, a hapless but shapely young woman) may be able to find the answer if only they can escape detective by the alien probes. The scientist and the young woman run (probably to an old farmhouse), but they can't hide. It doesn't look good for either the scientist or the earth. The scientist and his comely love interest say their goodbyes, knowing that this is the end. But . . . just then the alien spacecrafts begin to retreat during the last five minutes of the movie. What's going on? Ah! It turns out the aliens are allergic to cat hair! The military just has to sling a bunch of Siamese at the aliens and they begin to die. Yah! The earth is saved! The scientist and the young woman kiss while gazing at the heavens above. Then a cat runs by scaring them both for a second, and then they both laugh. Run credits.

JJ Cooper · Dec 10, 2008

I'm hearing what you are saying - but we're writing fiction. Anything can happen.

I'm contracted to sell books and write the best book my memory and imagination will allow. My readers will judge me.

The ending is difficult - but there is usually a few paths to take. If the author makes shit up that doesn't seem logical or reasonble, then they deserve to be outed as 'Deus Ex Machina'

JJ

KTC · Dec 10, 2008

Yes, JJ. And usually it's so incredibly insulting the reader has to question how it ever got published in the first place. I'm sure thousands do not get published because of it.

RobJ · Dec 10, 2008

JJ Cooper said:
2. Pressure. Always pressure from somewhere for the published writer, but we are professionals. If we weren't - you would abandon reading our books.

You may already be aware of this, but it doesn't come across from your posts. Readers do abandon books.

Cheers,
Rob

illiterwrite · Dec 10, 2008

The example that immediately comes to my mind is My Sister's Keeper, by Jodi Picoult. She sets up this great conundrum, and you wonder how it'll work out, and then at the end, something totally out of the blue happens that takes care of the whole issue. I know I felt cheated, and I haven't read any other book of hers because of it.

KTC · Dec 10, 2008

illiterwrite said:
The example that immediately comes to my mind is My Sister's Keeper, by Jodi Picoult. She sets up this great conundrum, and you wonder how it'll work out, and then at the end, something totally out of the blue happens that takes care of the whole issue. I know I felt cheated, and I haven't read any other book of hers because of it.

My wife read a couple before this one and really liked them. I can't repeat here what she said when she came to the end of that book...but it's the last Picoult book she'll ever read. And my wife wouldn't know what Deus means if it jumped up and bit her. (Actually...that's exactly what it did...bit the book right out of her hand.)

ajkjd01 · Dec 10, 2008

I always thought that a good example of Deus ex Machina was the C.S. Lewis books/movies.

Have you seen the movie version of Prince Caspian? (I have not yet read the book, so I don't know if the movie was true to the book.)

At the end, after all of these catatrophes and battles, and losses and all of that, the Good Guys are cornered right near the river and it looks like it's the end. There is no conceivable way out. And lo and behold...here come Aslan, who saves the damn day. With nothing in the plot that shows that he was even paying attention to them, much less ready to save them. In fact, the characters were actively looking for him...and didn't find him until they were in over their heads. Voila....day saved, plot solved...so why did we have to have the whole drama with the fricking prince if Aslan was gonna save the day anyways?

(My mom and I walked out of the theater and she was going on and on about how good the movie was...I was grumbling that something with that bad of an ending got published and sold movie rights.)

Palmfrond · Dec 10, 2008

LOTR always did seem a bit deus ex machina to me. The giant eagles fly Frodo and Sam out of Mordor at the end. Why couldn't the eagles just fly Frodo and the ring directly to Mount Doom from the Shire? What's with all the walking?

scarletpeaches · Dec 10, 2008

JJ Cooper said:
Starting to get it now - hey look, it's turning into an educational thread (add appropriate smilie).

It's still subjective in it's application of the term, Right?

JJ

No; DEM happens when the characters have no influence over their own final fate and the conclusion comes completely out of the blue, removing their personal autonomy from out of their hands.

scarletpeaches · Dec 10, 2008

KTC said:
My wife read a couple before this one and really liked them. I can't repeat here what she said when she came to the end of that book...but it's the last Picoult book she'll ever read. And my wife wouldn't know what Deus means if it jumped up and bit her. (Actually...that's exactly what it did...bit the book right out of her hand.)

I love your wife.

Plus, I would happily slap Jodi Picoult for that book alone.

I mean, really hard.

Darzian · Dec 10, 2008

Palmfrond said:
LOTR always did seem a bit deus ex machina to me. The giant eagles fly Frodo and Sam out of Mordor at the end. Why couldn't the eagles just fly Frodo and the ring directly to Mount Doom from the Shire? What's with all the walking?

I do not remember why they arrived when they did. If there was a strong reason given, then it wouldn't fall into deus ex- but I agree that it was rather convenient.
Your point is valid too- a large group of Eagles could have infiltrated Mordor- especially before the Nazgul got winged beasts.

Captshady · Dec 10, 2008

Would the last Indian Jones, where the whole thing is a highly technical space craft that landed a few thousand years ago and made a rock machine to release said craft at a later date, qualify?

jvc · Dec 10, 2008

alleycat said:
It seems to be particularly prevalent in science fiction and some mystery stories.

Think of one of those cheesy sci-fi movies from the fifties. The aliens invade earth. Nothing can stop them; all earth weapons are powerless against the advanced aliens. The brainy scientist (and his love interest, a hapless but shapely young woman) may be able to find the answer if only they can escape detective by the alien probes. The scientist and the young woman run (probably to an old farmhouse), but they can't hide. It doesn't look good for either the scientist or the earth. The scientist and his comely love interest say their goodbyes, knowing that this is the end. But . . . just then the alien spacecrafts begin to retreat during the last five minutes of the movie. What's going on? Ah! It turns out the aliens are allergic to cat hair! The military just has to sling a bunch of Siamese at the aliens and they begin to die. Yah! The earth is saved! The scientist and the young woman kiss while gazing at the heavens above. Then a cat runs by scaring them both for a second, and then they both laugh. Run credits.

This sounds familiar although not sure about the cat thing (why is everything with you cats. Always cats. What's with the cats?

).

Would this be the plot to War of the Worlds?

Why are writers cornered by Deus Ex?

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