[Perry] Game of Thrones: Red Wedding

The following post will contain minor, minor spoilers for Game of Thrones season 3, episode 9 OR book 3. It is safe to read this post without being spoiled so long as you don’t click on any of the links herein.

EDIT: The comments section has very seriously turned into HERE AND THERE BE SPOILERS for Game of Thrones as well as a host of other series.

Proceed at your own risk =)

So have you been watching Game of Thrones? And have you read the books already?

Even if you knew what was going to happen, it came as a little bit of a brutal shock.

If you DIDN’T know what was going to happen?

Well…look at how people reacted for yourselves. (This link contains MAJOR spoilers)

Let’s think about this a little, though.

Do you know the main reason why people reacted so strongly to what happened?

It’s because they cared.

They were made to CARE about the characters and so, when something awful happens to them, it hits them like a solid punch to the gut.

But it’s more than that, isn’t it?

It’s not just because they cared, but because they cared about characters they thought would be invincible.

This is a topic we’ve danced around before with regard to the idea that character death (especially main character death) could be a very powerful tool when it comes to telling a story and drawing out a reaction from the reader.

The video linked above showing people’s reactions to the climax of the episode bears that out. People took to Twitter and social media, outraged, in shock or just plain depressed about what happened.

But let me say again, they wouldn’t feel this strongly about the event if they didn’t care about the characters.

George Martin had this to say about the Red Wedding: “I try to make the readers feel they’ve lived the events of the book. Just as you grieve if a friend is killed, you should grieve if a fictional character is killed.”

I think this is something that I want to shoot for. This is something I want to do.

These are the kinds of reactions I want to inspire.

Maybe not for the same circumstances and maybe not even for character deaths…but I want to make people care about what happens to my characters.

I want to make them feel like they’re right there with the protagonist as he goes through his Darkest Night.

And if? If they need to die?

Hells bells, do I EVER want the reader to feel it.

 

 

 

 

Related posts:

[Perry] Everyone Dies
[Perry] Thomas Was Alone
[Perry] Hidden Character Aspects