# Would my MC's situation lead to shock?



## sunaynaprasad (Oct 17, 2012)

First some evil wizards knock out her mentors. Then a bird-like creature grabs her with its beak, and flies her into the air. She screams and cries, worrying about death. Then when the bird makes it to the ocean, it drops her, and she falls. Someone luckily stops her in midair, but how should I continue this. A while ago, I've read about a real girl who fell down a big waterfall and got trapped into the rapids. Her arms felt weak and she thought she'd die. Then she grabbed something, and then went into shock. Should I do that for my MC, or is that not believable?


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## Gunslinger (Oct 17, 2012)

Depends on the person. I know some people crack in an instant while others, very remarkable people, never crack.
It is believable to me because many people are just not as tough as we assume ourselves to be. Watch some youtube videos and you'll see just how pathetic our species can be. On the other hand the average reader may not believe it given how people on television are usually unstoppable juggernauts who never tire, unless its plot related.


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## cullmeyer (Oct 18, 2012)

I would say that it depends on what your plan for the "characteristics" of your MC are. Is she a tough, gritty girl? If so, you might not want to go that route, because it would project a "weakness" about her to the reader, and thus going backwards in trying to portray her as such. If she is delicate, or sheltered, or easily frightened, then yes, the going into shock thing would definitely work. And there are always exceptions to nearly every rule, but this is just my opinion.

Good luck!


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## The Backward OX (Oct 18, 2012)

What they both said ^^


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## sunaynaprasad (Oct 18, 2012)

I decided that although she's a coward, she won't go into shock, because a magical creature in the ocean stops her from dying and going into shock.


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## Nickleby (Oct 18, 2012)

For me, it always seems like laziness on the writer's part for a character to go into shock. You have an opportunity for the character to react to what's happening, but you choose to show no reaction.


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## Morkonan (Oct 18, 2012)

sunaynaprasad said:


> First some evil wizards knock out her mentors. Then a bird-like creature grabs her with its beak, and flies her into the air. She screams and cries, worrying about death. Then when the bird makes it to the ocean, it drops her, and she falls. Someone luckily stops her in midair, but how should I continue this. A while ago, I've read about a real girl who fell down a big waterfall and got trapped into the rapids. Her arms felt weak and she thought she'd die. Then she grabbed something, and then went into shock. Should I do that for my MC, or is that not believable?



What sort of "shock" are you wondering about?

For instance, in the case of the girl in the rapids, it's quite possible her arms went weak and she was afraid she was going to die. Growing up, there were rapids that myself and friends used to frequent. The water was unbelievably cold, but relaxing and playing in the pools beneath the waterfall was nice on a hot summer day. A friend of mine once fell in, upstream of the waterfall. Getting him out alive was an arduous task, made even more so by the chilly waters. Your limbs quickly go numb, despite your exertions.

That's "shock" due to hypothermia, if you stay in such waters too long.

Shock due to physical trauma, like those with extensive injuries, is the method the body uses to combat blood loss and further damage. Plus, the brain has a way of deciding that you've had enough "pain." Likewise, in a starvation situation, eventually the body just shuts down all but the most critical functions and these don't work too well, either...

Now, has your character experienced either situations? Has she experienced some sort of "shock" due to environmental conditions? Starvation? Traumatic bodily injury? If not, then what are you left with?

Emotional shock, like that experienced by someone who has just witnessed or gone through an emotionally traumatizing event, is another way the body reacts to certain situations it has no current way of dealing with. Soldiers are trained to respond to such situations by "reacting" instead of shutting down and turning into mind-numbed zombie targets. But, someone without such training very well might be forced into a state of temporary torpor when faced with a harrowing combat experience. Are we talking about that kind of shock?

As others have suggested, you are going to want to consider how this episode of "shock" impacts the reader's perceptions of your character. If the character is adventurous and of a robust disposition, imminently able to take on any number of severe situations and still have time for tea, then placing them in such a position would just not make your job any easier... Of course, if you made her acrophobic then such an episode would be understandable and believable.

If I were faced with a situation where the character being made unconscious is a necessity, I would choose the time honored tradition of bonking her on the head with something of sufficient mass.


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## Cornelius Crowe (Oct 20, 2012)

As Morkonan pointed out, shock is a word that gets used, usually incorrectly, for a lot of different things.  Strictly speaking, shock is a physiological response to blood loss.  It sounds like what you are talking about is a psychological response akin to panic, and whether your protagonist experiences it or not would depend on her personality and how you think she might respond to this situation.


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## dolphinlee (Oct 22, 2012)

In a situation like this the adrenalin flows (and cortisol is released) and a person will fight to survive. People go into shock afterwards (not from lack of blood) but when the body stops producing the adrenaline. 

The person can experience shakiness, mental fog and muscle soreness amongst other things.

Years ago I had to give first aid to a person who had gone through a window. He cut an artery in his arm. I managed to slow the bleeding and get the person comfortable, while waiting for the ambulance. 


When the person was taken to hospital I took two steps and collapsed to the floor. It took half an hour before I was capable of being normal.


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## Cornelius Crowe (Oct 22, 2012)

What you experienced wasn't shock, which is a life-threatening condition, but rather the normal reaction to an adrenaline rush.  Shock is caused by inadequate cellular respiration, usually due to blood loss and is accompanied by a drop in blood pressure that can lead to cardiac arrest.

Your example, though, is pertinent to the OP's question, because in the situation described the character may well become helpless or pass out, but not until she is out of danger.  The fight-or-flight response is hard-wired into us; I'd find it very hard to believe that she would become incapacitated in such a way until she'd managed to pull herself to safety.


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## dolphinlee (Oct 22, 2012)

I stand corrected. Cornelius is absolutely right. I have used the word 'shock' as it is understood by most people. He is being precise in his use of the word. 

Cornelius, thank you.


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## Ryanne (Oct 31, 2012)

Just like what most other people said: physical or psychological shock? 

Physically, shock is something you experience when you've been through a trauma, such as gunshot wounds, violent car wrecks, et cetera. (Cornelius' explanation obviously kicks the butt of mine.) Based on what your char went through, she would have no reason to go through shock, even if she was very frail physically. 

Psychologically - as a handful of others said, it all depends on the person. Everyone responds to things differently. In your char's case, she goes through a series of rapidly changing and life-threatening situations in a short amount of time only to find herself suddenly rescued by someone she doesn't know in the thick of it. 

Shock, at least in lit, usually sets in a couple of minutes after the shocking event because it maximizes the impact on the character and the audience. At least, that's what I've seen XD The amount of shock a character goes through varies based on his or her hardiness / toughness. Also, if your character has gone through traumas or significantly shocking events before (more than one and close together - like seeing a massacre, et cetera) then she would have been pyschologically numbed and wouldn't be in so much shock as she would normally. 

If this hasn't happened, then it all comes to down to your character's heart, strength, and soul. Does she adapt well to things? How much does she value her life? If she's worried about someone else's life, then her own will decrease in importance at the moment (although shock might set in after she knows the person is okay / after she knows the person is not okay and has taken care of it). 

Your character's mentors had just been knocked out. If she cares like crazy about them and is super concerned about them, she won't be so concerned about herself. If she's a really peaceful person and hates violence, it's believable that she might be super distraught and could go into some shock. If she's haughty and self-absorbed and all that and is superior in society or thinks she is, she might go into shock at the thought that people might do this to her (how dare they! et cetera). 

And that's pretty much all I got. Hope I helped!​


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## Dannabis (Jan 11, 2013)

Shock is generally a response to a physiological defect, such as bleeding, hypo/erthermia, heart attack, stroke etc. Emotional shock is sometimes referred to as Acute Stress Disorder and like everyone has said, largely depends on the person.


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