I think that is why it seems to work Heather - nobody that has read it has mentioned it is out of place. I think oddly it would be out of place if there was more mention of it earlier. The whole premise of the book is that this one awful event has to occur in order to prevent everything that ever existed being wiped out. The universe in my stories is inside god/is god. God is dying. I think if I had chosen just a random angel it wouldn't work, but because it is his birth father it fits in the scene - his job isn't to rescue his son, its to allow him to accomplish the task not with ease but with support. Then one final small part of the task he takes over to do, the major more painful part of the task is done by my MC. My only other option was to bring back his lover - but I felt that immediatly after the event all support should be taken away from my MC. His father needing to finish the task means he has to leave him to deal with the consequences alone once dawn breaks.
I've just come back from seeing Tangled, which was quite good in a Disney sort of way but one situation was solved by a deus ex machina. I felt that Pixar would have written their way around it rather better.
I for one love Euriphdes, Shakespeare and Chamber of Secrets. I certainly do not think As You Like It, Winters Tale etc are an example of poor story telling. Although have also considered it with mine and the main character is called Socrates, and I sort of have Plato in my books ...
I think the best implementation of this I've read is Francine Rivers' Redeeming Love. All of the situations developed quite naturally, but they corresponded (in slightly unexpected ways) to the promises made by God to the protagonist. Not unlike how prophesy is often handled in fiction. Without the promises it could have been read as natural development all the way through, but the author shows a supernatural force steering it all.
Can anyone think of a modern example where there was a deus ex machina that ended up badly for the protagonist ?
The movie "Knowing". The aliens arrived at the end of the world and said, "no, you can't come with us."
That really wasn't a Dues Ex Machina though. If I recall correctly the kids throughout the movie saw the aliens. The aliens were trying to get the kids to come with them. It was being set up. A Dues Ex Machina is a plot device where some character, object, or ability that appears out of nowhere. It just happens without any sort of warning. There is no way the D.E.M could have been forseen. Its like this: Say there are two armies. The Good Guys and the Bad Guys. Now the Bad Guys quickly reduce the Good Guys to a handful of people. The Good Guys have little ammo and are pretty much surrounded. Suddenly someone from the Good Guys develops some random ability and kills all the Bad Guys. That would be a Dues Ex Machina. Up until that point all the Good Guys, especially that one, had no sign or hint that he may have such an ability. It just happened. In the movie Knowing. The aliens coming to save the kids was the entire point of the movie. The Aliens were trying to warn and contact the kids(IIRC) to get them to come with them to the new world. They didn't just randomly appear out of thin air to save the day. Just because at the end of the novel something like that happens doesn't mean its a Dues Ex Machina. Often you can look back on the movie/novel and see the signs of such an ending. You don't quite always catch them when you first watch but they are there. Now if you can't find any sort of groundwork for such an event, then it would be a Dues Ex Machina.
Many Christian movements emphasise that the individual needs to make an active decision to accept God's forgiveness to be saved. The story could build on that. In order to get supernatural aid, the main character would first need to accept God's forgiveness, which might involve overcoming a character flaw, like pride. C.S. Lewis' The Voyage of the Dawn Treader... Spoiler ...has a very well done allegory about this. Eustace is at first spiteful and shows contempt for everything that has to do with Narnia, including Aslan. Then his selfishness and greed causes him to be turned into a dragon. When he becomes a dragon, he gradually learns to like other people and be kind to them, but it is not enough to reverse the curse. Then Aslan (i.e, Jesus) comes to him in a dream, and when Eustace accepts Aslan's help, he is turned back into human form. In this way, Eustace is supernaturally saved, while at the same time, it's the logical conclusion of his own character development. In other religions (real or imagined), being saved by a supernatural being might involve making a sacrifice, solving a riddle, or understanding the ancient mysteries.
^ I can't agree more with Heather. In my own story I've been working on, for how many months I don't know, it would appear that my own resolution/ending is a Deus ex machina if someone just skipped to the ending and didn't bother to read the middle. But that's where I chose not to go. I decided to insert it earlier on before the rising tension began. Plus it was too good of an aspect to leave in the dark. I had to include it somewhere in order for my readers to get the whole idea of it and to later get blind-sided in the climax where it would be used.
I think the original is Chekhov's gun. If there's a gun there in act 1, somebody should have fired it by the end of act 3. In that context it's more about cutting out unnecessary material, but I think your point about prefiguring is right too.
They call that Diabolus Ex Machina on TVtropes and there's many examples of this in modern fiction. (Had attached link but then recalled the rules)
cept in my case it was deus and not dialbolus what did it - God directly sent the 'angel'. Deus and Diabolus were the winners in my story at the expense of the protagonist and antagonist.
Most of those aren't actually deus/diabolus ex machina, though, they're properly set up. It seems that many tropers can't tell the difference between a diabolus ex machina and a downer ending.
maybe I should call mine Deus et Diabolus Ex Machina lol Cept in my case God is the box, and the devil the contents.
All tropes should be taken with a grain of salt. Considering them is good when done critically. I love their summary example of "dropping a bridge on the love interest" though.
...and the Life of Brian Yep...I've mentioned it before but Poe's Murder at Rue Morgue was such a let down when I read it. That said, if you want a surprise ending, make it the 'sum of the parts' ending. That it seems inevitable once you read it but was not evident throughout.
Good thoughts. I'd like to see more plots that involve people admitting their character flaws, actually. (I know this is off topic, but is there anyone else out there who was annoyed by Avatar in this way? I would have loved it except for the way the MC got away with his rampant character flaws. Self-absorption, anyone? He tried to play both ends b/c he was into becoming a bad*ss hunter, not because he was trying to help the N'avi, and it was clear as day, but since he managed to SPOILER ALERT tame the Toruk all was forgiven and he was the conquering hero, etc and never had to change. Incidentally, does anyone think that was a bit of a D.E.M. in a way? Taming the Toruk was not set up very well; I thought it was supposed to choose its rider.) Hey, how do you do that "hide spoilers" thing? That's great. I can't see any buttons for it.
to hide spoilers type Spoiler [ /spoiler] just remove the space between the [ and / and write the spoiler between the two tags. If I remember correctly the Toruk was a completely different species then the ones the N'avi hunter people tamed. I think the setting up of him taming it wasn't too bad but it could definitely use some work. The movie pretty much starts off with him explaining how he once dreamt that he was actually flying. He was later told of the story of how one of their most revered warriors/leaders had tamed the Toruk(is that their name? I dunno) and once he had the falling out with the N'avi it was pretty clear how he was going to get back in favor... to some extent. But you are right and I agree fully that he was forgiven way to fast. He shows up flying one and suddenly everyone forgives him and accepts him like nothing happened. Whether it really was a D.E.M or not isn't really important because it was poor storytelling either way. Now maybe if he had came in riding and saved them when they were almost being wiped out it would make sense. Not only would he be riding that flying mount thing, but also saving them. Both actions would have earned him a chance with them.
Yes, and I think that in that story it was said that the Toruk chose him. Whereas Jake just takes initiative to jump on its back, no choosing involved unless you say it was forced to choose him, which obviously... I guess it just seemed like this thing where destiny should be involved and it instead gets replaced with American can-do ingenuity. Which drives me nuts. Yes! Thank you! (OK, I know, I have a bit of a grudge about this movie... heh heh.) Thanks for the spoilers tip, that's great.
Oh well if that is correct then that just seems like a poor way of handling it. In fact whether or not the first Toruk rider was choosen or just tamed him, it would probably have been better if maybe the Toruk chose him instead. Would even sorta build up the idea that perhaps his call to their Goddess or whatever it was might actually work. But I have to admit I did enjoy the scene where he jumps on the Toruk's back. OK I suppose maybe I am going a bit off topic now. lol No problem. Though I think there really should be a spoiler button somewhere.
I don't like it. I think it's poor story telling in most cases. By definition a Deus Ex is poorly incorporated into the story. It can ruin the fluidity of a story.
-there are times when a deus ex machina can kick ass and make the story a winner! but this is rare.unless its a reasonable,believable one,please,please,don't do it...
