Why Did My Favorite Character Have to Die?

by Alycia W. Morales

When I started reading the Divergent series by Veronica Roth, friends were conflicted over the ending of the final book in the series, Allegiant. Some said to read Divergent and Insurgent and stop there, as their disappointment with the third book was great.

How dare she kill that character?Why would an author kill a reader's favorite character? #amreading #amwriting Click To Tweet

A character everyone – obviously – loved.

Here are three reasons I could see why Ms. Roth killed off her character:

1. Someone had to die an unselfish death in order to preserve the lives of those around them. To give those left behind a better future – a hopeful one.

2. The ending for the other main character would not have been the same had the other character lived.

3. There was no riding-off-into-the-sunset-happily-ever-after alternative ending for this series. At least not that I could see.

If you’ve been a writer for more than … oh … a few months, you’ve heard that every now and then someone must die. It’s what gets you out of a writing rut. It’s what moves the story forward. It’s what gets the action going again.#Writers, sometimes you need to kill your favorite characters. Click To Tweet

And if you’ve read enough books, you already know that not every story has a happy ending. Life doesn’t. Why should every book? Yes, happy endings are nice. Yes, we want to see the bad guy die and the good guy survive, but sometimes the good guy has to die in order for the bad guy to get the appropriate judgment.

At least in the case of Allegiant, the death leaves us with a satisfying ending. It would absolutely have driven me crazy if the ending had been stilted or left hanging. I applaud Ms. Roth for leaving me in tears but with the knowledge that it was worth every word.

So, Writer, is there a character in your novel that needs to die? Could you twist your ending in such a way that your readers mourn the loss of their favorite character yet recognize the deep need for someone so brave and selfless to die?