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| Photo credit: B Tal on Flickr |
While I suppose part of me (at least subconsciously) knew this was somewhat of a trend, it was really brought to my attention a couple years ago when the ever-fabulous Nathan Bransford talked about it in his Defense of Dead Parents post.
Since then I've been more aware of the issue, and as of late (perhaps partially due to the fact that I've been watching Revolution), I started thinking about it again.
As a writer, it's easy to see why so many parents are, er, removed from the story early on, especially in YA and MG novels. Many novels that feature young protagonists carry the same theme of self-discovery and coming of age—regardless of the situations our young heroes are thrust into, the plot usually involves character growth that will eventually lead them to be strong, self-sustaining individuals that aren't dependent on adults for guidance. In order to reach that stage, however, we need to force our characters to learn to be independent—and that often involves removing a parent or two from the picture.
Of course that's not the only reason—I'm not going to pretend that it's not easier to have MIA parents in novels that feature minors as protagonists for various reasons, the least of which include characters who aren't worried about being home by dinner so that they can go off and have their adventures. Combine that with the fact that a happy family background isn't always the most interesting background, and it's understandable why so many characters are missing parental units.
But then I've seen really fantastic parents in books, from Tris's epically cool mother in Divergent, to the unforgettable Mrs. Weasley in Harry Potter, to Percy Jackson's continuously fabulous mom, and it's got me thinking—are we missing valuable opportunities by ousting the parents before giving them a chance?
I want to hear from you—are you guilty of parenticide in your novels? What do you think of the trend that's permeated books and other media? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
I want to hear from you—are you guilty of parenticide in your novels? What do you think of the trend that's permeated books and other media? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
I remember that post. If I want parents out of the way, I send them to a conference or have to work a night shift job. lol
ReplyDeleteWhen I begun planning my WiP I couldn't imagine not having the parents play a role.. some of the best conflict in fiction exists in family settings! (The extended family is where its at!) :D
ReplyDeleteWhile there are certainly blended, single-parent, and other non-nuclear families out there in the world, I don't know many people who grew up without parents/guardians. While not so common, the fiction that does away with parents/guardians for no significant reason always come across as unbelievable and impossible to relate to. The same goes for "guardian" or "protectors" who have no plausible connection to the protag.
In Harry Potter's case, while he didn't have any parents alive, he had the Dursleys. They played a huge role in the stories (not to mention their house), reset each school year by his return to their home, were the epitome of muggles, etc. It worked well and kept the plot tight.
I guess this really is a subconscious thing - getting rid of the parents. I've never thought of it before, but now that I've read your post I realized that one of my main characters has a missing dad and then I plan killing off both parents of my other main character later on in the story.
ReplyDeleteThere can be indeed many interesting moments in a book with a fabulous parent character, but just as you said, if your purpose is to show drastic changes in your character, killing a father/mother figure is the perfect way to do it.
Given that I had a parent die IRL, I think I'd have a tough time writing a teenage character who had both intact. It defines everything about how a child grows into an adult, so would touch on everything about the character.
ReplyDeleteOften guilty. My characters tend to be older, but they still have parent issues. The protagonist and antagonist of my trilogy (a pair of brothers) lost their mother when they were young and the antagonist later killed the father. Another protagonist from that trilogy was abandoned as a newborn. Many of the younger characters eventually lose one or both parents. The narrator of my work in progress was raised by a single father and the narrator of one of my completed drafts was raised by a grandparent. My other two books had present parents, though one major character had to deal with a deceased mother and an unknown father as an adult. I draw from what I know, and I lost one of my parents when I was young so that is my experience. It might be different if I wrote YA, but I write adult fantasy and odd families and high body counts are fairly standard for the genre.
ReplyDeleteWell...sort of. Half my novel takes place at my protagonist's MUM'S house, while half takes place at her DAD'S. And so there are differences there. But again, genre. If I was writing fantasy, I might have a bigger chance of killing their parents - or, you know, having them reappear later as the evil king or whatever. Yay for cliches! Interesting that I hadn't noticed the "parenticide" thing, though. Thanks for blogging about it!
ReplyDeleteI'm often guilty of this. I had a fantasy story where the parents would actually forget about their children just so that I could have them out of the picture and the kids could live on their own. It seems kind of silly now. For my current WIP, it's really necessary to the plot that the narrator's mother is rarely in the picture, but her absence also adds some tension when she pops up now and then and makes for a good subplot.
ReplyDeleteWhile I have written a story or two with one or both parents deceased, it's not a norm for me. I don't have any objections to using parents in a story, in fact, in one of them the father is a quiet key as it is the source of rivalry between 2 women, one who knows the truth and one who lived in ignorance all her life.
ReplyDeleteI'm kind of torn. I don't like dead parents just because it's an easy plot device. Characters can grow and become who they are with living parents, too. For example: the crazy parents of Elizabeth Bennett in Pride & Prejudice. And yet there's something compelling about the death of a parent that moves us. It doesn't matter what age the protagonist is when a parent dies. My father-in-law now refers to himself as an orphan, and he had his mother well into his 60's.
ReplyDelete*raises hand* So guilty. And I'm okay with it ;) Honestly, it depends on the story. If the parents are in integral part of it, obviously they should stay. If it's about the individual making decisions rather than fighting them, then parents often otherwise get in the way of their choices. There's also, of course, the idea of dealing with loss which is a strong theme that generates instant sympathy. And I agree, there are some really awesome parents which can be super fun to write and read. It all rests on the story. Great post, Ava!
ReplyDeleteI had not thought about it until reading this post, but two of my three current projects the father dies or was already dead. I need to examine this further. Great post.
ReplyDeleteThat works--especially if you want to save your characters the trauma. :)
ReplyDeleteSounds like you've included a lively family dynamic in your WIP, which I think is great. I also like your point about the Dursleys--while they weren't Harry's parents (and they certainly didn't treat him half as well as James and Lily would have), they certainly played a large role in his life.
ReplyDeleteI think getting rid of the parents works in many different scenarios, but we should just be careful that there's a reason behind it beyond the parents being in the way. Creating a drastic change in the character could certainly be one of those reasons.
ReplyDeleteI can certainly understand how your own experience could spill into your work. I've been fortunate enough not to experience that, but I imagine you're absolutely right about the scope of it's influence on the development of a character. Thanks for sharing, Keely.
ReplyDeleteI definitely understand incorporating your experience into your work, and I agree that genre probably influences it as well. With my experience in YA I've noticed that the body count tends to matter less on the age range and more on the genre within the YA--for example, YA Contemporary will likely have a much lower mortality rate than YA Fantasy or YA Paranormal. Interesting thoughts, thank you for sharing, Courtney.
ReplyDeleteSure thing, Emily! I think genre definitely plays into the parental mortality rate, but of course I read a lot of action-type novels. :)
ReplyDeleteSounds like you're using the missing parent to add another dynamic element to your WIP, which I think is great. If you're going to use the missing parent element, you definitely want to make sure there's a reason for it beyond just getting them out of the way, so using it to create a subplot is smart.
ReplyDeleteInteresting! Glad to hear you haven't overused the missing parent element. :)
ReplyDeleteI hadn't really thought of the age thing as I write YA, but I think that's a great point, Chris. Age really doesn't matter when it comes to something like losing a parent.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Margaret! You make a great point about loss creating sympathy--early trauma to characters (early within the story, I mean) tends to be a pretty good device to help forge an early connection to the characters.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Sydney! :)
ReplyDeleteVery great post, Ava. I think you hit why this is such a popular option. But I can safely say I am not guilty of it in my upcoming debut novel :) In fact, the parents are such an important part of the story, they already have a prequel written.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Rainy! Sounds like you've very successfully avoided this trend. :)
ReplyDeleteI am definitely guilty. In one of my WIPs, I have four characters who are half-siblings (and don't know it) and their parents are all offed in some form by their shared father i order to obtain custody of them. Now I feel guilty. Maybe it's because an unbroken family represents bliss to me. Maybe it's because the way my parents raised me, there would be no way I could ever go on these adventures in my WIPs without my parents deeply involved, each of these ending with me NOT going on an adventure because it's too dangerous.
ReplyDeleteI definitely understand the temptation to rid the story of parents for various reasons (as I said in the post, I've done it myself), but I also think parents can play a really interesting role in stories, even those with dangerous adventures, particularly when those adventures aren't embarked upon by choice, but by necessity.
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