Within my writings, I'm having an issue with the amount of death, not in the sense that it seems unrealistic. It is a major theme within the world of my characters. The story begins with the death of the main character's father, much further on, her best friend dies, and then again, after much a time, her mother dies. The issue is that one of the characters that I want to kill (CX) is one of the other major characters, and he is used as a booster to further the plot and general storyline of the characters. CX, about halfway through the novel, resurrects the main character, which is all fine and good, as it is meant to symbolize the rebirth and turning point of the novel. However, I'm using the death of CX to further the relationship of some of the characters, including CX's boyfriend. The issue deepens, as he is brought back from the dead (it is all a bit complicated to explain here), by his boyfriend not too soon after CX resurrects the main character. The death of CX can be removed, but I feel as if it really creates a stronger bond between him and his boyfriend. The death isn't necessary, but I feel it adds a poignant and important piece to the storyline. Does another resurrection, so soon after the death of the main character (in which her resurrection is meant to be incredibly lucky and rare), make it seem as if any death can be undone? (Sorry for rambling)
I'd have to agree to a point, although I am sure carefully plotting things out and trying to clarify certain things could help combat this. On the surface, if people can be resurrected so easily, death seems cheapened. But maybe not everybody can be resurrected, and thus their death is permanent? Done properly, contrasting a death that cannot be undone with ones that could might add an even more intense emotional effect. IMO, it's shaky ground but not one that you can't successfully tread.
Deaths early in the book show tht the author means business. If you go killing off but then resurrecting characters will-nilly, then readers won't take you seriously, thinking you'll just kill off all minor characters but then bring back the ones that have a larger role in the plot. As the above people said, it trivializes death, which is a very big issue in both the literary world and real life. BTW, is your main character a girl, or gay? Because you refer to the MC as "her" in the middle of your explanation, but at the end you call said MC "him"....
I think that as long as it is made clear that CX's resurrection was both insanely difficult and a fluke, then it will fly. But if you then resurrect the other character as well then it will start to feel as though bringing people back from the dead is a lot easier than you are making it out to be, and people will wonder why not everyone is brought back that way. So while you can get away with one resurrection, two is probably too much and the supporting player should either stay dead or not die at all.
meh I think resurrection in any form lessens the impact of death somewhat. that much is inevitable. but with a compelling enough plot and a fair amount of applied phlebotinium, it definitely can be pulled off without overtly trivializing it. every action has a reaction, so maybe some kind of set back or trade off would contrast nicely. if nothing else, i'd consider holding off on any 3rd rez's for a while, lol
Thank you everyone for your input. In response to JTheGreat, the MC is female, but one of the other major characters "CX" is male, and yes, he is gay. It may have been better for me to mention that not only is the resurrection of the MC incredibly difficult, and sends the resurrector, CX, to insanity, it is a special case, as the MC is a demi-God... Anyway, thanks to everyone for the help, it's given me some opinions and views that are very handy.
remember it is your story and if the book is about a quest to resurrect the fallen and it empies th main character to do it it is possable that the impact that resurrection has on the people questing for it is worse than death. dose the "resurrector" resurrect both of the characters that need resurrection or is the first one done by someone else and it inspires the "resurrector" to do so on the MC if so, then it would defifnitly show impact. if the story isn't about a quest for resurrection mostly then i don't know that i would completely resurrect the MC maybe partial resurrection. forgive me if you don't like the star wars saga but there were partially resurrected characters in those books, obi-wan, yoda. and fully resurrected characters in the book the lion the witch and the wardrobe. also Greek mythology has resurrection. great part of fiction is it makes impossibilities possible
