Modern characters reacting to death?

[Roc]

I'm writing a novel where my characters are transported back in time. If, say, they were put into ancient Rome and they saw fighting and death at the colliseum, how would they react to it? I'm just curious as to how a modern character would react to such activities as staged fighting and death in a colliseum perspective.

 

[Weaver]

I think that many (maybe most) modern people are accustomed to seeing faked death in entertainment (violent movies/television), and that could influence how they perceive actual death-as-entertainment - at least at first. Maybe play with that idea, and have your characters react differently once it sinks in that this is real, that those guys down there fighting aren't like modern professional wrestlers or whatever, and they're really killing each other.

 

[Ireth]

I think that many (maybe most) modern people are accustomed to seeing faked death in entertainment (violent movies/television), and that could influence how they perceive actual death-as-entertainment - at least at first. Maybe play with that idea, and have your characters react differently once it sinks in that this is real, that those guys down there fighting aren't like modern professional wrestlers or whatever, and they're really killing each other.

That reminds me of the comedy film The Black Knight; when the protagonist gets transported from modern-day America to medieval England and sees someone getting beheaded in an execution, he initially picks up the head and wonders, "How do you make it look so real?" before realizing "Oh... it IS real!" and fainting in horror.

 

[Steerpike]

The reactions will be as varied as people are. It is going to depend on the characters. You know them, we don't.

 

[Ghost]

I thought the same thing as Weaver. It's likely the character would compare it to other things they know, and the closest thing for many people would be movies. It might not sink in right away or they could think it was an elaborate joke or act. If they've seen people die in other ways, they might be stunned by how brutally intimate it seems for a person to be, say, hacked to death, while everyone watches.

The character might be influenced by the mood of the crowd, too. I imagine a public hanging where half the crowd is mourning the accused has a different feel from an angry mob impulsively killing someone they blame for their problems. In a coliseum, the audience might be jovial. Watching someone die and looking around to see people cheering would be emotionally confusing and sort of surreal, I think, and the character might feel helplessness in addition to the fear and shock. I'd make sure to include strong physical reactions if the character is upset.

I don't know how your character would react because, as Steerpike says, it varies. They might go into hysterics, they might go numb. They may delude themselves into thinking it's fake. They might get mad as hell. They might justify the event. It's hard to say without knowing the person.

Some people might get a weird kind of thrill because of adrenaline. I don't think that one is easy to write, though.

 

[Helen]

I'm writing a novel where my characters are transported back in time. If, say, they were put into ancient Rome and they saw fighting and death at the colliseum, how would they react to it? I'm just curious as to how a modern character would react to such activities as staged fighting and death in a colliseum perspective.

I reckon a lot of us would love to see it. Pent up political correctness of the modern age vanishes.

 

[Roc]

I thought the same thing as Weaver. It's likely the character would compare it to other things they know, and the closest thing for many people would be movies. It might not sink in right away or they could think it was an elaborate joke or act. If they've seen people die in other ways, they might be stunned by how brutally intimate it seems for a person to be, say, hacked to death, while everyone watches.

The character might be influenced by the mood of the crowd, too. I imagine a public hanging where half the crowd is mourning the accused has a different feel from an angry mob impulsively killing someone they blame for their problems. In a coliseum, the audience might be jovial. Watching someone die and looking around to see people cheering would be emotionally confusing and sort of surreal, I think, and the character might feel helplessness in addition to the fear and shock. I'd make sure to include strong physical reactions if the character is upset.

I don't know how your character would react because, as Steerpike says, it varies. They might go into hysterics, they might go numb. They may delude themselves into thinking it's fake. They might get mad as hell. They might justify the event. It's hard to say without knowing the person.

Some people might get a weird kind of thrill because of adrenaline. I don't think that one is easy to write, though.

Thank you very much.

 

[SeverinR]

I don't think anyone knows how they will react to real life gore until they encounter it.

I think we think ourselves over stimulated with blood and gore of tv, but real life blood and gore is different.

I think even the toughest modern person could faint. They might get nauseated/vomitting, dizzy/lightheaded.

Nothing prepares you to see a dead body in a field(motorcycle accident), nothing prepares you to see a unresponsive child laying along side a road(unrestrained family in a rollover.),
for the blood and gore that happens today, let alone for sport in the days of old.

The first kill of a warrior was a celebration to help the warrior deal with the negitive feelings of killing.

How real people handle real gore today, is the way people could react to the gore that was common to their way of life back then. Also how the people around them would react would be important too. They would think them wimpy or weak for showing any reaction other then how others reacted.
Much like when people go to their first or their worst horror movie, and get upset by it, if you don't hide it you will get teased for it.

and by the way, for me anyway, you never get use to suffering, pain or death. I guess if you did you should no longer care for the injured.

 

[Feo Takahari]

Let's connect this to how modern people react to modern deaths. Even trained soldiers have a notable chance of developing PTSD after witnessing violent death. The average civilian isn't likely to just shrug it off.

 

[Kim]

I agree with Steerpike, it depends on your characters.

I once attended a ceremony that was something I was not familiar with. People were 'torturing' themselves in worship (it is a bit hard for me to explain in Englsih, but I hope you understand what I mean). At first I was horrified, but after a while I started to understand what they were doing. I saw how the other people reacted. I was no longer horrified and even could see the beauty of what was happening.

Maybe this helpes a little bit.

 

[SeverinR]

Let's connect this to how modern people react to modern deaths. Even trained soldiers have a notable chance of developing PTSD after witnessing violent death. The average civilian isn't likely to just shrug it off.

I agree. Just extreme pain and suffering can cause PTSD too, or close calls with life and death.
So torture or extreme punishment could cause PTSD, say a common punishment such as a thief having a hand cut off, flogging, or any punishments that nobles bestowed to "keep the peace or maintain law and order."