Insight into how fiction deals with death
Sometimes I gain insight that I wish I hadn't. That happened today. I might as well share it with you.
Fiction has different ways of dealing with death:
1. The RETURN of [Insert character].
My son, when discussing the death of a relative, said, in a calm fashion, "He's not gone away. He's not gone away." This concept of someone returning from the grave was not a problem for him.
2. Rebooting a universe, i.e. starting it over.
This gives us the opportunity to see old characters in a new light, ala Smallville reimagining Superman. It also brings an old character into the contemporary world.
3. Creating immortal characters.
If you're characters never age, they always stay relevant and hip -- see Spike from the Buffy the Vampire series.
Also, immortal characters gives you an opportunity to travel into the past, and throw your main characters into different time periods. Again, witness Buffy as well as the Highlander series for examples.
***
These are all different ways for writers to deal with the concept of death.
Unfortunately, while highly entertaining and useful techniques, as well as being potentially very satisfying for long-time fans, these techniques are simply not possible the real world.
These elements and techniques are TRULY bound to the world of fiction.
Later on, my son accepted that there was no return in real life. "He can be in our heart," he said.
***
SURE. Someday we may have some crazy nano-tech that keeps us alive well-past our current lifespans.
I suspect that our generation is a little early in the timeline for this life-expanding future technology. The advances in our era are flat out amazing ... but I don't think the advances are fast enough for us.
***
If the technology does show up in my lifetime, great. I will gladly volunteer for dangerous missions to Mars or where ever ... since I would be living on borrowed time at that point, I would gladly take some risks to advance scientific research.
***
Sorry if this sounds incredibly nihilistic.
I won't get into positive concepts at the moment. Those who know me know I believe in the after-life, the silver lining, the force, etc.
Fiction has different ways of dealing with death:
1. The RETURN of [Insert character].
My son, when discussing the death of a relative, said, in a calm fashion, "He's not gone away. He's not gone away." This concept of someone returning from the grave was not a problem for him.
2. Rebooting a universe, i.e. starting it over.
This gives us the opportunity to see old characters in a new light, ala Smallville reimagining Superman. It also brings an old character into the contemporary world.
3. Creating immortal characters.
If you're characters never age, they always stay relevant and hip -- see Spike from the Buffy the Vampire series.
Also, immortal characters gives you an opportunity to travel into the past, and throw your main characters into different time periods. Again, witness Buffy as well as the Highlander series for examples.
***
These are all different ways for writers to deal with the concept of death.
Unfortunately, while highly entertaining and useful techniques, as well as being potentially very satisfying for long-time fans, these techniques are simply not possible the real world.
These elements and techniques are TRULY bound to the world of fiction.
Later on, my son accepted that there was no return in real life. "He can be in our heart," he said.
***
SURE. Someday we may have some crazy nano-tech that keeps us alive well-past our current lifespans.
I suspect that our generation is a little early in the timeline for this life-expanding future technology. The advances in our era are flat out amazing ... but I don't think the advances are fast enough for us.
***
If the technology does show up in my lifetime, great. I will gladly volunteer for dangerous missions to Mars or where ever ... since I would be living on borrowed time at that point, I would gladly take some risks to advance scientific research.
***
Sorry if this sounds incredibly nihilistic.
I won't get into positive concepts at the moment. Those who know me know I believe in the after-life, the silver lining, the force, etc.
posted by Skew | Monday, August 25, 2008
1 Comments:
I'd like to add Obi-Wan actually becoming a ghost to your list in ways fiction deals with death.
And, at the risk of sounding like The Nihilist, I will say that our religious forefathers probably wrote the "what happens after you die" fictional stories as a way of coping with the grim reality of losing loved ones.
When my great-grandmother- whom I was close to- died in 1984 when I was 7, I came home from school and saw my family huddled outside. Warren broke the news to me, "Your grandma died. She had a heart attack".
I didn't really react on the surface, I'm ashamed to say. The concept of human death just didn't sink in to me back then. It could have been that some seed was planted at the subconscious level for me to to get attached to people.
The concept could have been diluted because of TV, movies, books, cartoons, and comics.
My grandmother had a hard time with her mother's death. I wasn't allowed to go to the funeral because my mom knew what type of hysterical scene she would perform in front of me.
Warren wanted me to see the coffin and body as a sense of closure, but my mom didn't want me to be exposed.
Sure enough, I eavesdropped that during the burial my grandmother threw herself on the grave, wailed, and ripped her shirt.
But I digress...
When family members told me that Ida was in heaven, I was unphased and filed it away with the Tooth Fairy and Santa Claus. Why?
Because if heaven was such an immortal and wonderous place, why everyone was so sad?
I recall family members took off from work, the phone kept ringing, neighbors kept knocking on the door to pay respects, and no fun could be had.
I did not see a celebration of life. I saw mourning, grief, and loss at first. After a week, things got better. I heard family members and friends of the family reminiscing about my great grandmother Ida's life and times, which was good for me.
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