The general rule of thumb, it seems, is Bad Guys get What They Deserve (WTDs) and Good Guys get Happy Endings (HEs). But are these endings obligatory?
Don't get me wrong--I am a fan of WTDs and HEs. I'm
just wondering if the motivation for these outcomes is intrinsic of extrinsic. Do we give our favorite characters happy send-offs because we fell in love with them over the course of telling their story? Are the suitably in-your-face outcomes of the antagonists drawn from an innate sense of justice? (Maybe the antagonists reflect qualities you, as the author, find repugnant, and you have a personal issue with giving them a Happy Ending, or even a Somewhat Boring one.) (<-- This, by the way, is totally okay. That is the beauty of fiction.)Or, perhaps it's the external ideals--the world of fictional justice saying, the Bad Guy ends up dead/destitute/in jail. The Good Guy gets the girl/fortune/restored family honor/all of the above. That's how it is. That's what people like to read.
I'm wondering--if we took a step back from both internal and external Fictional Justice Agendas, would we find different stories hiding under the frameworks of our novels? Near the end of my last story I made the decision not to have my character share her knowledge about the "real" Bad Guy with the world or seek legal justice. Instead, she internalized the information and used it to reassess her worldview and sense of self. I think it fit much better with her character--I also think other writers would have handled this very differently. (I'm also not saying I have an opinion either way. I've enjoyed books that have clear HEs and WTDs, and books that have not as well...except for some books I've read for school. A few were just flat out unfair. Um, A Separate Peace? Finny did not deserve that. And where was Gene's WTD? Arrgh.)
Now, addressing You, The Reader:
Are you always satisfied with HEs and WTDs, or are there times when you think Fictional Justice is not the right ending for a story?
Kieryn
www.kierynnicolas.com
This post made me think of MockingJay from the Hunger Games trilogy. There was all sorts of out cry from readers because Katniss' "Happy ending" wasn't so happy. But I think Suzanne Collins did just what you're saying. She took herself out of the equation and wrote as if that world were real instead of forcing a happily ever after on her MC. I liked the ending because of that. It made it more real. But still, you can't deny that a lot of people were pissed. I guess it really just boils down to what kind of author you want to be. Neither way is wrong, that's the beauty of fiction. But you have to decide if you want to be a crowd please, or stay true to the story.
ReplyDeleteGood post!
I've actually been contemplating the same questions, both as a reader and writer.
ReplyDeleteAs a reader, I yearn for happy endings. My stomach twists in knots, praying for a happy ending for all of my favorite characters. As for the bad guys, I always hope they get some horribly sick and demented death that could only be portrayed correctly in a Saw film.
Like Heather mentioned above, Mockingjay was one of those books where the protagonist (an all time favorite of mine, in fact) gets a semi-peaceful, but in no means GREAT ending. By the end of the book, I needed therapy. I didn't feel like living anymore (totally not kidding, either). The book ripped my insides out and waved them around for everyone to see. It broke my heart.
But, maybe, that's the beauty of it all. As much as I LOVE a happy ending where I'm pumping my fist in the air and grinning from ear to ear, sometimes I forget to REALLY feel. Mockingjay is a fine example of a book that made me feel...deeply. It reminded me that sometimes bad things happen to good people. Sometimes it's okay to cry, because it means you aren't entirely desensitized.
As a writer, I'm at something of a tough spot. I'm writing a series with characters I love more than anything, and while part of me wants to give them a happy-Disney-princess ending, another part of me says it isn't fair. Sure, it's fiction, but I also don't want to be entirely unreasonable.
I think as writers we ought to write for ourselves. Sure, it might be too perfect an ending, but maybe that's what we want to read. Maybe we need to write something that ends happy because the world around us is anything but. Maybe we need a hopeful ending to cling to.
Sometimes I really really love heartbreaking endings that aren't a HE. I haven't read as many with bad guys not getting what they deserve, but I imagine they'd be an interesting read.
ReplyDelete