# Can a first person narrator die?



## TomJMiller (Nov 16, 2014)

I'm currently in the process of writing my first short story with first person narrative. Now that I've reached nearly the end of the story when the narrator dies, I've realized that the ending doesn't add up. How can one tell a story if they're dead? I'm guessing it has been done before, but it doesn't sit right with me. To those who have confronted this issue, how did you handle it? What ways can I tweak my story so that I don't have to rewrite my whole short story in third person? His death is inevitable, so changing the ending isn't really an option. Thanks in advance!


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## Skodt (Nov 16, 2014)

Just separate the ending and make a third person voice at the end. Or tell it from a surviving character.


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## Bishop (Nov 17, 2014)

Yes. 

I'd give examples of where it worked in fiction, but in doing so, I'd be spoiling endings. Basically, you can switch to another character's POV for the resolution, end it right at the character's death, or switch to 3rd person for resolution. Or just kill 'em off, switch to a new character and continue from there.


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## Jeko (Nov 17, 2014)

Yes. You don't have to obey the laws of mortality in fiction. Read Fight Club, The Lovely Bones, etc. There are hundreds of ways of giving the dead a voice.


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## Pidgeon84 (Nov 17, 2014)

Of course it can happen, the question is how do you do it well? That's a question I would have to put a lot of thought into.


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## Deleted member 56686 (Nov 17, 2014)

The example I know of is of a dead person essentially doing the narration. Yes. of course it works.


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## A_Jones (Nov 17, 2014)

Its been done in third present but I dont care for it much.  However I personally wrote a book and know of a book where the main character dies, it was written in first person present.  

You just have to make it to where the main characters death is the last words of the book.


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## Deafmute (Nov 17, 2014)

I have seen this done before, one novel i read it was halfway into the story when the main character died. it was a shock tactic done to shake up the idea that "Oh you thought this guy couldn't die because  he is the main character!" It was alright, he switched to a new character to finish the story, everyone above is right on the money there are a number of ways to do this in your narration. Switching to 3rd person could work but honestly I think that would feel off. If you spend the whole story in a first person swapping to 3rd would just be unsatisfying. Its not an uncommon practice to let the dead character continue to narrate. That is usually the most satisfying for the audience. It allows the resolution to be summed up by the same person the reader has gotten to know over the course of the story. Most 1rst person narratives are done as though the main character is telling the story of something that happened in the past so the only difference is that when the reader reaches that characters death they realize that the story is being told from beyond the grave. This is totally fine, but it depends on what type of story this is. AND what sort of impact that makes on the characters death. Does a voice from beyond the grave lessen the impact of that characters death? Is something supernatural like that to removing from feel of this hard realism story? If so the concept I would recommend would be to swap to a 1st person narration from the character most affected by the main characters death. A love interest a best friend a partner etc... This way the impact of the main characters death is still strong and emphasized by the grief of the new narrator.


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## K.S. Crooks (Nov 17, 2014)

Either switch to a third person perspective or to that of another character who is most central to how the story will end. You could even get adventurous and have the main character look ahead while they are dying, a flash forward of what the character thinks or hopes will happen. Finally you can stay in first person with the main character speaking after they have died, as if looking down from heaven/afterlife. Hope this helps.


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## TomJMiller (Nov 17, 2014)

Thanks for the replies everyone. There is a bit of a problem when it comes to ending it in either 3rd person or with another character. There are only two main characters, who both die at the same time. I know the whole "it was a dream" ending is too cliche, so I wouldn't resort to that.


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## LeeC (Nov 17, 2014)

Read so many books I can't remember all their titles, but I remember the gist of one and a movie (different story) with your situation.


In both the protagonist/narrator dies in the opening scene, then backs up to portray how he got to that point. 

If this has already been mentioned, I apologize.


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## Bishop (Nov 17, 2014)

TomJMiller said:


> Thanks for the replies everyone. There is a bit of a problem when it comes to ending it in either 3rd person or with another character. There are only two main characters, who both die at the same time. I know the whole "it was a dream" ending is too cliche, so I wouldn't resort to that.



I don't think the "it was a dream" thing is hated because it's a cliche, more because it devalues the rest of the story. One example where I LOVED it is in the film "1408" (SPOILERS COMING!) where the main character wakes up, the whole thing having been a dream... he's not really stuck in an evil hotel room. Then he goes to the post office where a construction crew is working, and then the crew takes hammers to all the walls and suddenly, the room breaks apart and he's back in the evil hotel room. Was like a fake-out, and for about five minutes I was really pissed, then just really impressed.


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## Deleted member 56686 (Nov 17, 2014)

In the film I saw the narrator/protagonist mentions that he is dead in the first scene as he explains his story. Essentially he is telling his story from the grave. Again, it works extremely well.


(American Beauty in case you're wondering)


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## joshybo (Nov 17, 2014)

> In the film I saw the narrator/protagonist mentions that he is dead in the first scene as he explains his story. Essentially he is telling his story from the grave. Again, it works extremely well.
> 
> 
> (American Beauty in case you're wondering)



American Beauty was the first thing that came to mind for me as well.  And this type of narration was very effective in that film.


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## thepancreas11 (Nov 17, 2014)

If you asked George R. R. Martin if you could kill off POV characters, he'd laugh at you...then kill one just to prove he could.


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## Kyle R (Nov 17, 2014)

Billy Wilder _(recipient of the Life Achievement Award; Thalberg Memorial Award; National Medal of Arts; considered one of the most brilliant Hollywood writers of all time)_ once instructed a professional writer by telling him, "Don't give me logic. Give me emotion."

The point is that, in storytelling, readers prize emotions over logic. As long as you can get your reader to _feel_, they will accept virtually anything. :encouragement:


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## J Anfinson (Nov 17, 2014)

First person present is an option, or another thought is to continue as a ghost. Depends on what works for the story.


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## InnerFlame00 (Nov 18, 2014)

mrmustard615 said:


> In the film I saw the narrator/protagonist mentions that he is dead in the first scene as he explains his story. Essentially he is telling his story from the grave. Again, it works extremely well.
> 
> 
> (American Beauty in case you're wondering)



I second this one.  I haven't read a lot of stories where the main character dies that was done well enough that I enjoyed it, but the ones I did enjoy did it that way.


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## John Galt (Nov 18, 2014)

thepancreas11 said:


> If you asked George R. R. Martin if you could kill off POV characters, he'd laugh at you...then kill one just to prove he could.


Then four new POVs would appear. And two books later, revive the one that died.


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## Tettsuo (Nov 18, 2014)

I'll be killing my MC in the end of my WIP.  That will literally be the of the book.  No third person, no shifting of narrator, just death.


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## Bishop (Nov 18, 2014)

Tettsuo said:


> I'll be killing my MC in the end of my WIP.  That will literally be the of the book.  No third person, no shifting of narrator, just death.



SPOILER ALERT, dude!


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## Tettsuo (Nov 18, 2014)

Bishop said:


> SPOILER ALERT, dude!


No need for a spoiler!  This is a prequel to my first book and I've already announced the death of this character there.  Also, I'm starting the novel off with a pretty clear hint of the characters end.

"Pan's Labyrinth" inspired me regarding this.  The director makes it clear in the beginning that the main character dies.  But, somewhere in my mind, as the story progressed, I sorta kinda refused to accept it.  So, when the end came, it still hurt.  I'm going for that kind of effect.


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## dale (Nov 18, 2014)

lovecraft used to do it, which is kind of funny, really. the guy would still be sitting at a desk writing when some hellish tentacled beast was
climbing up the stairs to get him, and then it would end in mid-sentence.


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## Nemesis (Nov 18, 2014)

I think the most chilling one I've read was Stephen King's short "Lady Fingers" where the MC is recording his slow spiral into insanity on a deserted isle with no food or water, eventually resorting to chopping off bits of himself (first a broken lower leg if I recall, doing it out of necissity to prevent infection/complications, then realising that with no other alternatives he needed to eat _something_). One of the few stories that actually made me a bit quesy and it definately stuck around in my brain.


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## dale (Nov 18, 2014)

Noxicity said:


> I think the most chilling one I've read was Stephen King's short "Lady Fingers" where the MC is recording his slow spiral into insanity on a deserted isle with no food or water, eventually resorting to chopping off bits of himself (first a broken lower leg if I recall, doing it out of necissity to prevent infection/complications, then realising that with no other alternatives he needed to eat _something_). One of the few stories that actually made me a bit quesy and it definately stuck around in my brain.



it was called "surviver type" i think. but the last line was something like "lady fingers. they taste just like lady fingers."


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## Nemesis (Nov 18, 2014)

Ah! You're right Dale, I always forget the actually title thanks to that final line XD still gives me shivers thinking about it.


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## bazz cargo (Nov 18, 2014)

Sunset Boulevard.


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## Deleted member 56686 (Nov 18, 2014)

bazz cargo said:


> Sunset Boulevard.




 I forgot about that one. We find out in the end. One of my favorite films too. :smile:


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## Jared77 (Nov 18, 2014)

Here's an idea:  Have the main character write a letter at some point during the story.  After he or she dies, another character reads the letter, and those are the closing words of the book.


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## Riis Marshall (Nov 19, 2014)

Hello Tom

For an example of where this works extremely well - and you, gentle reader, won't even know what happened until the very last page, check out Robert Harris' _Ghost_ (sometimes: _The Ghost_). Triple whammy title, too. If I could write like that I could be President of the World.

All the best with your writing.

Warmest regards
Riis


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## tabasco5 (Nov 21, 2014)

TomJMiller said:


> I'm currently in the process of writing my first short story with first person narrative. Now that I've reached nearly the end of the story when the narrator dies, I've realized that the ending doesn't add up. How can one tell a story if they're dead? I'm guessing it has been done before, but it doesn't sit right with me. To those who have confronted this issue, how did you handle it? What ways can I tweak my story so that I don't have to rewrite my whole short story in third person? His death is inevitable, so changing the ending isn't really an option. Thanks in advance!



In two of my stories I have a first person narrator that dies.  In the first, he tells of his death and I leave it to the reader to imagine how he is telling the story if he is dead.  In the second, I end the story with the moment before death.  He has made the decision to kill himself and has stuck the gun in his mouth.  The reader can then decide if he did it or not.

So, IMO, there isn't a need to change from 1st to 3rd.  I personally like the idea of a narrator telling of his death after the fact.


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## YMS (Nov 28, 2016)

I still don't understand how a story can be told in first person, past tense when that character eventually dies. Unless they are narrating from "the other side" how can they be telling us what happened? 

Third person makes perfect sense to me, but not first. 

I'd love to be convinced. 

Thank you.


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## Ptolemy (Nov 28, 2016)

YMS said:


> I still don't understand how a story can be told in first person, past tense when that character eventually dies. Unless they are narrating from "the other side" how can they be telling us what happened?
> 
> Third person makes perfect sense to me, but not first.
> 
> ...



Fiction isn't about the logistics, were being told a story from the POV of the protagonist, even if that character ends up meeting his/her maker in the end they can't be restricted because for most of the story we didn't know they were going to die. Basically what I'm saying is that it isn't about how it's told it's about the way it is told.


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## John Oberon (Nov 28, 2016)

End it with a newspaper article. If they die unusually, there would most likely be some kind of article on it. If you have an investigative reporter do it, you can describe the mode of death and tie up some lose ends.


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