I have seen lots of posts on the internet where readers are all making sad declarations that their favourite authors always kill their favourite characters. I get it. I do. It sucks when one of your favourite characters die, especially ones that are particularly compelling. To be fair, most posts are tongue in cheek, but after seeing a series of posts sulking that an author has killed a favourite character, well, you can say that it’s enough for me to block certain posts I see on social media. There is a fine line between making fun of an author who does that as compared to berating him/her by making sad, angry and plain downright passive aggressive posts. It’s not healthy.
It is also your responsibility to deal with your disappointment, NOT the author’s. S/he is only required to tell the story to the best of his/her ability.
And you know what? Death and dying is part of life, and it is one of the driving forces of the plot. Authors use their deaths in different ways, and all of them are deliberate. A death of a character can reveal a secret, be central to the mystery of a book, or as a way for another character to rise into power. Deaths always add to the plot, not subtract.
The author doesn’t have to listen to the beck and call of the reader, but only has to do what s/he feels right for the story. So stop whining. If readers are unhappy with any authorial decisions, they can always stop reading the book.
Featured image via KitAy