You know how self sacrificing YA protagonists can be? I mean, those sixteen and seventeen year olds are giving up their lives in a second. Don't get me wrong, it's a nice thing, really. But I have to ask, how come it's so easy for them to give up their lives? I'm around the same age as those protagonists I read about, and maybe I'm a really coward ass (probably), but I don't see how I could risk my life so spontaneously like that. I mean, it's your life, bro!
So, I'm going to play this nice little game where I decide whether they were being stupid or brave when they risked their life according to their motives. Let's begin, shall we?
Family
This one I understand. You know, sometimes I would get those weird nightmares where a sick guy is asking me whether I would give up my life to save my mother, and of course, the answer is always yes. You don't think twice when it comes to your family, you just do what you gotta do. That's why I get Katniss volunteering for her sister. Even if you can't see yourself doing the same thing, put in mind that Katniss has been taking responsibility of her entire family since her father died. She is more of a mother to Prim than a sister, and so it was natural of her to take that decision. In all fairness, it was also a stupid move, considering Katniss was the only provider of the family, and if she went bye-bye, so would her mother and sister. But what kind of person would watch their little sister walk to her death? She had a better chance of surviving the hunger games than her sister ever did.
So, too brave or too stupid? Brave!
Love
In all honesty, I'm predisposed to give out a big ole Stupid badge when it comes to this motive. But this wouldn't be fair unless I give an example to justify my judgement. However, the one example that comes to mind is from a very recent book that I'm not sure everyone read, so instead, I'm going to make a hypothetical example. OK, so girl A meets boy B. Boy B is basically the cat's meow. He's hot, he's nice, and even the reader is swooning for him. Problem? There's some sort of villain/serial killer/alien/marshmallow set out to kill him, and the only way to save him is if girl A risks her life. It's all nice and sweet and romantic until you realize that a) Girl and boy have known each other for a couple of weeks b) you're not sure if they're even in love or merely infatuated with each other's eyes. If this is all there is to the story, then I'm bound to say Girl A is being Stupid!*
But sometimes there's more to it. Sometimes you actually understand the love between the two characters, and how one of them would risk their life to save the other. If the story can convince the reader of such thing, then basically this book reached the jackpot. Not only does it become extremely emotional for the reader, but the over all self-sacrifice thing actually makes sense. So in that case, the Girl/Boy is being Brave!
*It doesn't always have to be the girl that sacrifices herself. Actually in a lot of cases, it's the guy. Or both of them. Survival Tip: If you're a fictional character in a really dangerous situation, I suggest you make a guy fall for you. That way you will have a nice (probably abtastic) human shield. Wohoo!
Other
There's no way I can some up all the motives of risking one's life. So instead, I'll just call them other motives. I'll leave the judgment to you on those ones.
If a character risk their life to save their city/village/world, are they being too stupid or too brave?
If a character risk their life to keep a dangerous secret (like, for example the average human will never be able to make fries like McDonald's) , are they being too stupid or too brave?
If a character risks their life to save someone they barely know, are they being too stupid or too brave?
Yes! I love this post! I find that some of the sacrifices that characters make for "love" are just overly ridiculous. I mean, yes, it is good to do things for the one you love, but what about your own value? Don't you love and respect yourself? Why are you worth nothing but everyone else is worth everything? I don't get it.
I mean, I love the characters because they are brave to the extent that they do things I never would do, but then I think they're also ridiculous because usually they have stupid motivations. It's not about saving the world or anything like that most of the time, it's about making a sacrifice for just one particular person. That's too narrow to me. If you're going to sacrifice yourself or risk your life, make sure it's really worth it!!
Okay. Enough rambling. ;)
Same here, sister! I don't think I can easily give up my life like those characters do, but it's fun to read about one of them!
The girl sacrificing everything for a soulmate she met 5 hours ago always gets my eye rolling. I love brave characters though mostly because I'm such a chicken!
You really do come up with the most interesting topics for discussion, Reem! I can totally sympathize with you on this, because if I were the heroine in a YA book, I can tell you my story won't be as noble as the ones out there. For one, I probably wouldn't be willing to sacrifice my life or future for the sake of others - even people I like/know (excluding family). So your family point was spot on. The love one... let's face it. We might probably never find a teenaged guy who "loves" you enough to sacrifice himself. It's sweet and all in the stories, but in real life? That probably won't ever happen. Maybe in a few extremely rare cases, but still. It can work both ways, like you said.
This made me think so much - especially on the other scenarios. Hmm. I can't really make up my mind!
Fantastic post! I agree with everything you said, Reem. :) Risking your life for your family or best friend/lover of 10+ years is admirable and brave. But putting you life to risk for the sake of a guy(or girl!) you have only met a few days ago, unless you're some kind of spy/special agent or something like that, may be brave but it's also incredibly stupid, imo. But fictional characters tend to be braver/more stupid that real people, also in my opinion :)
HAHAHAHA I love this post!! I've never given much thought to the fact that those protagonist actually are about my age and if given the same circumstances, I portably will be cowering in one corner instead of being all brave and heroic xD I guess we all agree to the Family part but Love.. It's subjective. I TRY my best to understand the different romantic relationships in books, but some just turn out to be more realistic than others. *SHRUGS*
Sacrifice can be impulsive or well-planned, though both works for me if explained well! In Romeo and Juliet, those 2 barely knew each other for A DAY and they're eating poison and stabbing themselves for each other. I mean, WHAT?! NO! It makes no sense to me, but I'll try to convince myself that's all for dramatic effect... .__.
Alicia @
Exactly! I'd understand someone sacrificing themselves for family - that, I can go along with. But sacrificing yourself for someone you barely know but are convinced you're in love with? Pshh! As if. But like you said, if it's a developed relationship and the characters's love is real and believable... I guess it's okay.
As for the city/village/world saving... I don't know. Frankly, I don't see a reason to risk your life for people who are probably not even going to give you a "thank you!" after it's all over. Or when they're working against you and try to prevent you from saving anything.
Unless that secret is some kind of a spell that, spoken, will bring the destruction of the world, I think authors only try to make their characters mysterious by making them keep "such a dark secret". Very few succeed, I think.
If it's someone innocent, I don't think it's wrong. I say that, because that's what I'd do. If someone innocent is being hurt or on the verge of being dead, if I could, I'd do something about it. But it depends on the person, actually. If it's someone I barely know and have seen nothing good from them, I'm not sure I'd bother.
This is exactly what it's all about, self value. While it's nice to show a brave character, I don't think having an impulsive one makes a good role model, though. I might not attempt the risks these characters do, but at least I need to understand their motive. Like you said, giving up your life for just one person is too narrow.
Haha, I am usually most inspired to write discussion posts when I'm in a rambling mood ;)
Awww, thanks Meg!! I'll raise a glass for all the not-so-noble YA heroines we'd make :P I mean, you are rarely faced with a self sacrificing situation in real life, and even if I was, I'll take my sweet time to think about it. I'm all for showing brave heroines/heroes but having them throw their life recklessly like that sets a bad example for the people reading the book. I wish they could balance self value with bravery, you know?
I agree! you kind of don't notice how impulsive those characters are because they are under the spotlight and action is always expected from them. But apply any of those scenarios to real life and they will just sound weird!
Man, I should have mentioned Romeo and Juliet! Great point. Yeah, well I think it's a bit impulsive on both their sides to end their lives like that, but the writer wasn't trying to make it a heroic movement. I think it was no secret that those characters were written as naive (or acting their age more likely).
I guess you don't notice how someone is ridiculously impulsive if they're under the spotlight of a book or a movie. It's kind of what you're used to, you know?
Thanks for stopping by Alicia! :)
I sometimes try to put my self in superheroes' shoes, and imagine what it would feel like to save an entire city. But then I'm like naaah, screw it. I ain't risking my life for random people.
I agree, not every author succeeds at having a character carry a "big dark secret" throughout the novel. I actually get put off by any blurb that mentions those three words. The secret never lives up to my expectations when it is revealed.
And yeah, you know, it's like watching someone about to leap off of a bridge. You can't help but run over to save them. It's almost like your instinct to step in.
Great post! I know exactly what you mean. Honestly, so many times when I read a YA book and the protagonist makes some big choice like this, I cringe and shake my fists and yell at them because WTF ARE YOU DOING WHY ARE YOU DOING THAT?!
Like, seriously... if I had been put in many of these situations when I was a teen, I probably would have failed because I would NOT have done some of the crazy, risky stuff these MCs end up doing. Like, uhm, no. =/
I think I'm often rolling my eyes at these characters because they rarely know what they're standing up for when they risk their lives. It always turns out later that the circumstances weren't as dire, or the person they were defending weren't as innocent as they claimed to be.
I know there are situations where I would risk my life to save the person I loved, but I can only imagine situations where I'm put on the spot - where my reaction is instinctual. Being given the choice (WHY ARE THEY ALWAYS GIVEN THE CHOICE?!), I'd like to think I'd be a little more rational - especially when I've only known my 1 tru luv for a couple weeks.
I like to think I'm a brave person, but no, no, no that's being impulsive, not brave! I mean, COME ON. Think for a little tiny bit before giving up your life. And I mean it's also very strange considering their age and all. They shouldn't be doing this!
That's exactly my point. The MCs I read about change their beliefs and ideals very often, and yet they are willing to risk their lives for whatever they believe in at the time in a second. And yes, like you said, there's a difference between being put on the spot, were you instincts will kick in and you just have to save a person, and between having a choice, and couple of days to actually think it over. What's even more annoying? They don't think it over!!
Great post! I roll my eyes so much when a character sacrifices themselves for love. A good chunk of the time, the characters barely even know each other and the character starts talking about how he/she has to sacrifice her/his life because they're... star-crossed lovers. How do they even know what love is?
When characters start to think about sacrificing themselves for the greater good though, I really admire the character's ability to 1. not exaggerate how things are (be above angst) and 2. be willing to sacrifice their lives.
I guess most people agree that when it's insta love, sacrifice just doesn't make sense. I like how you point out they shouldn't exaggerate matters, and I agree! Being melodramatic certainly doesn't help.
Thanks for stopping by Alice :D
If a character risks their life for someone they barely know, 9.5 out of 10 times, it's stupid. Also, I hate that thing where the villain asks a collateral damage character to give up a secret or die, and he/she chooses to die. Well, stupid. Insta-love sacrifices: stupid! Also, impulsive decision-making is very dominant in books. I mean, I make them but they're not stupid like it's portrayed in books.
However, when an estranged father gives up his life for his child, I get that because I get the reasons. When a love is so deep and have a lot of feelings involved, it's brave to give up one's life. When it comes to giving up one's life for their best friends, it's very brave.
I completely get sacrificing yourself for your family or, say, best friend. (But only if he/she is really REALLY your best friend.) But yes, most of the "love" sacrifices end up being a Case A scenario instead of a Case B, which is ridiculous and annoying.
The only other scenario I could come up with is if it happens in a second and the MC isn't given time to think. You know, a random child wanders into the street and the MC has to dive to save it from a speeding car. Or something. While it falls under the category of risking one's life for a stranger, it isn't stupid because it's due to sheer adrenaline.
I know right? Most of the time even if the character dies, the secret will go out in the open anyway. I think the stupidest thing to do is take an impulsive decision regarding your life. It's not a very good example.
Yeah, familial sacrifice is totally understandable. The relationship is soo deep, that it is worth giving up your life for.
Yeah, someone below mentioned that situation. I think your human instinct will kick in and you will try to save them no matter what. Even if you don't know them. I completely don't think that is stupid. It's very brave actually, and part of your body will force you to do it either way :)