Thursday, September 6, 2012
Sad plot endings
I don't think there's a real reason to have a sad ending to a story, unless there is going to be a sequel. In that case, I think any kind of ending is fine because you know that the ending you just read isn't really the ending. There's going to be more of the story afterwards. A prime example of that is Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. Sirius dies and that sucks. However, you know that it'll get better because there's a sequel where Harry cheers up.The Destroyers was just odd. The ending was terrible. The old man's house fell down and that's all. You don't even get to know if the old man discovers who broke down his house. I know that it's literary fiction, but what's the point in even writing literary fiction? Books are made for people to read them. If no one reads your book, what's the point of writing it?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I think it's necessary to have sad endings because otherwise it would be too predictable and fake. When was the last time everything worked out perfectly for everyone (outside of commercial fiction)? I agree, it may not sell as well, but I believe sad endings are just a part of life, so we shouldn't avoid them in our writing and reading.
ReplyDeleteI don't see the direct link between sad endings and buying books. Are you saying that no one buys sad books? I think you may want to revisit that claim if so.
ReplyDeleteI think there's a lot of sad endings in literary fiction for several reasons. Maybe we should be asking why?