4 Phases We Go Through when Our Favorite Character Dies

       Dumbledore, Primrose Everdeen, Ned Stark, Everyone at “The Red Wedding”, Augustus Waters, and many more are characters we’ve invested so much on, only to be killed off by the cruel author or screen play writer. These beloved people who may not exist in real life but have created an incredible amount of impact in our lives mean everything to us. And so when they die, every ounce of your being hurts. That’s an exaggeration but it still hurts. That is why we go through these following phases when they die. Hopefully, we go through all the phases and not get stuck in any of them for too long. 

first: Denial

      You read and reread and reread the character’s demise until your eyes are puffy and red from crying. You’re hoping that you misread something, anything! Hours are spent pouring over the internet hoping for an alternate ending or another sequel. In your mind, he/she never died.  You obsess too much on the series and end up doing some pretty weird and borderline crazy stuff (like tweeting the author relentlessly to bring the character back to life).

Second: Anger

     You begin to hate the fact that you ever even picked up the book. You hate the author. You hate the director. You hate the characters. You hate everything. You wish he/she never existed. You rant. You lash out. Okay, maybe this is being a bit extreme but the point is you’re furious that someone you had invested so much in was technically murdered. Take for example, Augustus Waters. Even though, he wasn’t a real person, you still loved him, was anxious for him, wanted him to stay with Hazel, and basically just wanted him to live a full happy life because after everything he’d been through, it was the least he deserved. 

Third: Sadness

      The crying phase is gone but a part of you feels empty. It’s the end of an epic life. You feel that nothing can compare to him/her.  No amount of magic, mythical creatures, and mind blowing adventures can compare to his/her life. It hurts even when it’s not supposed to. In some ways the feeling compares to a broken heart after a bad break-up, but you must remember that you can’t wallow in your sadness forever. You have to overcome your grief and move on to the last phase. 

Fourth: Acceptance

      You’ve cried your eyes out, eaten a lot, went through a mini emptiness phase, and read through too many fan fictions. You are finally in the last phase and the most important one, ACCEPTANCE. Sure, Tris from Divergent died but that doesn’t mean her impact was any less different or valuable. After all somehow, these characters have ignited your imagination and a passion within you that made you feel more wonderfully alive, made you care, made you travel into a different world and go through a flurry of emotions, and hopefully, made you learn a lesson or two that you get to apply for real!  And of course you open yourself again to the idea that there will always be another book to invest on. There will always be another life story worth reading about, whether it’s real or not. The point is, sulking on someone’s death will not be honoring them. So, what are you waiting for? Go to your nearest book store, Movie Theater, or Netflix and get invested on someone else. It’s not that hard.

- Danielle Bernabe
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