We've all read (hopefully you read regularly) those books that we love, but that make us cry like little babies when a certain character dies. In some ways the loss of the character makes the book even better (I won't say enjoyable.) and more profound. Here are my top 5 most difficult and poignant literary deaths in no particular order.
SPOILERS!
1. Helen Burns in Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
Jane meets Helen at the boarding school she is sent to by her evil aunt. Jane's life is rough and the school is deplorable. But there is Helen with bright red hair and a sweet kindness - Jane's first friend. Jane's world is brightened by Helen's presence and friendship, and reading the book, you really feel like finally Jane has someone who cares about her. It's beautiful. When Helen contracts and dies of a fever most likely due to the conditions at the school, we feel the loss as surely as Jane. Bronte makes us fall in love with Helen's friendship as much as Jane. When that is tragically ripped away, the only happiness we have felt in Jane's life is gone. We empathize with Jane, and we too are hardened by the experience. But that didn't stop me from crying my eyes out when I read it. Not Helen!
2. Stormy Llewellyn in Odd Thomas by Dean Koontz
While the movie did a pretty good job of telling the overall story, I felt the love story between Stormy and Odd is so much better understood by reading the book. You really understand their intense and deep connection. True soulmates that doesn't even have to speak to communicate their love. It's what every couple aspires to. Odd and Stormy have this force running through them that can only be called fate. They are two pieces of the same whole. When Odd realizes that Stormy is visiting him as one of the silent dead, this surety is broken and lives are shattered. I remember tears running down my face as I finished the book, and I just knew nothing would be the same. and even though I knew what was coming, I cried again when I watched the movie. That's how profound the pain was. Oh it hurts!
3. Sydney Carton in A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens
"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times..." This opening begins a juxtaposition between England and France at the height of the French Revolution, but it is the similarities between Sydney and Charles Darnay that actually end up being the device to conclude the story. Sydney's love for Darnay's fiancé Lucie is made manifest in his last act on the earth when he switches places with Charles in jail to free Charles but condemn himself to the guillotine. In the climax, the drums are banging a steady rhythm as Sydney is walking to his death. The guillotine falls with the beat as do his footsteps. Boom. Boom. Boom. It is the most selfless act of heroism I have ever read. Sydney gives his life to save the one of his rival all because Lucie loves him, not Sydney. In the very end, he only wants her happiness, at whatever cost. On pain of death. Boom. Boom. Boom. Say what you want about Dickens and his lengthy writing, but at the end of the day, he could tell a story. This death has stayed with me for years and I still find myself hoping that Sydney has found happiness somehow.
4. Sirius Black in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix and Albus Dumbledore in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling
I have to admit, I was angry at Rowling for these. First Harry loses the only "family" that has ever cared about him in Sirius. Sirius is also Harry's tie to his parents. Harry is able to be connected to them through Sirius's stories. When Sirius is killed by Bellatrix, we lose that connection so it feels like we are tripling the loss. By losing his godfather, Harry also loses his parents all over again. Crushing.
When Dumbledore sacrifices himself by having Snape murder him, he is giving Draco Malfoy a shot at a real life, but in essence removing one of the only adult figures that always believed in Harry and was always trying to help him. Harry is left broken and vengeful with his rage directed at Snape. The reader is also left in confusion, and definitely upset. Why Dumbledore, why?! Harry is all on his own trying to find the horcruxes with nowhere to start and a head clouded by grief. While this loss does propel the story of Harry, Ron, and Hermione's friendship forward and serve as the purpose of them teaming up, it still hurts so dang much.
5. You decide! What's been the hardest death of a character you've ever read? Let me know in the comments!
Honorable Mention: Bing Bong from Pixar's "Inside Out"
It is only an honorable mention because Bing Bong isn't a literary character. But I WEPT in the movie theatre when Bing Bong sacrificed himself for Joy and Riley. If a movie makes me cry, it's pretty good. If a movie makes me break down in sobs in front of strangers, it's lasting. Take her to the moon, Joy! All. The. Feels.
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