Killing off the narrator...

[Grimbold]

Hi,
Is there anything wrong with killing the narrator? I'm currently writing my book from the point of one character, however they are splitting up in a few chapters so writing will be split to the point of view of three characters, but the one who i started with is supposed to die...

Is there anything inherently wrong with this?

The only book i can think of that does is is Game of Thrones, but GrrM has more than 3 points of view so its more taken in stride than i think it would be if i tried it.

Reasons he is dying is to change the mood of the story, war is coming and up to this part the main character is only taking the whole 'fantasy world' problems half-heartedly, so its a way of moving the storys tone, being the big "oh shit" moment to start the middle from the start...

For context, up to this point, its like the hobbits in lord of the rings getting to rivendell, its been serious, but after that its when its really bad.

TLR:- is it okay to kill the character whos point of view you are writing from?

 

[Wanara009]

TLR:- is it okay to kill the character whos point of view you are writing from?

In my opinion, yes. It is okay so long you have another character to fall back on. However, you must also remember that the 'fallback characters' must be present for a lot of the story along with the narrator you killed (Like a companion in his/her journey or something like that). This way, the narrative won't suffer from the new POV character having to learn everything that the reader knew already.

 

[Steerpike]

Yes, Grimbold, you can do that. I've read books where the only viewpoint character has been killed. There really aren't any hard rules on how you approach such a thing. Just do it effectively and don't lose the reader in the process

 

[Xaysai]

Oh my God, you should totally kill him off in the middle of a big battle!

"The barbarian hordes let loose murderous cries as they crested the hill while their archers lit arrows behind them. Undeterred and unafraid we marched headlong into them knowing their crude projectiles weren't capable of even scratching our masterfully crafted plate armor and shields. The enemy archers let loose with their impotent first volley and OH SWEET JESUS I TOOK ONE...in the...gut..."

Chapter 47

...

 

[psychotick]

Hi Grimbold,

Is there anything inherently wrong with it? No. But remember your readers often want nice safe books. Books where if they've invested emotionally in a character they want their character to carry on. And yes that killing off of major characters is one of the big criticisms of GRRM's books. It upsets readers.

However, one thing it can do is just what you've described, change the entire mood of the book. You could for example, knowing nothing of your plot, begin with character A, say a king trying to prepare his kingdom for war and have a general tone of apprehension, but not full on fear. Then A dies, and character B, say the king's favourite war marshall takes over, and its almost a new book as it becomes about the war itself, and strategy, and just how bad things are going to get as people suffer and die. Then B dies, and C takes over, the valiant leader of what's left of the kingdom, and it's a new book about survival and the unlikely victory.

It could almost become a trilogy like that. Linked stories of different characters in chronological order.

Cheers, Greg.

 

[Shockley]

One of my favorite short stories kills off the main character at the start, then mid-way, then again at the end. He narrates the entire story either deceased or in the process of becoming deceased, and it's magical.

So yes, and it can be a great artistic decision if done well.

 

[Zero Angel]

Oh my God, you should totally kill him off in the middle of a big battle!

"The barbarian hordes let loose murderous cries as they crested the hill while their archers lit arrows behind them. Undeterred and unafraid we marched headlong into them knowing their crude projectiles weren't capable of even scratching our masterfully crafted plate armor and shields. The enemy archers let loose with their impotent first volley and OH SWEET JESUS I TOOK ONE...in the...gut..."

Chapter 47

...

This was similar to my thoughts on reading the title of the thread. I imagined it more of a movie though where the main character has been filming/narrating everything, then dies mid-narration, then someone else walks over, picks up the camera and starts narrating.

 

[DTowne]

Are you planning on having your main character's viewed by him or are you going to kill him off through one of the other viewpoints? I toyed with the idea of doing both at one point to get the full emotional impact.