We all have our deal breakers when it comes to fiction, and mine is clearly the death of animals. It's why I avoid obvious tearjerkers like OLD YELLER or MARLEY AND ME or WHERE THE RED FERN GROWS (hint: if the animal is on the cover, it's probably going to die). But sometimes, even if you do your best to pick books that seem to have nothing to do with furry creatures, you'll encounter the tragic death of an animal anyway. And the thing is - sometimes these deaths seem gratuitous - a shortcut for the author to show that a character is deranged or a cheap trick to wrangle some emotion out of the reader. And that's when I'm compelled to exit.
Recently, I was reading AMITY & SORROW, an adult novel about a mother and a pair of sisters fleeing a cult. With spare and haunting prose, Author Peggy Riley shows us the horrors these women have lived through and how difficult it can be to escape our pasts. She also shows how warped Sorrow has become, detailing her increasingly erratic and destructive behavior. But then Sorrow kills a kitten - and I had to put down the book forever.
Perhaps I'm overly sensitive, but that act seemed unnecessary. I already knew that Sorrow was seriously messed up - wasn't there another way to illustrate how far she'd go? Anything other than killing a newborn kitten?
There are other books that have shocked me with their cat and dog killing ways. One of my biggest hurdles to liking fan favorite JELLICOE ROAD by Melina Marchetta is that Taylor drowns a cat - and once she did that, it was very difficult for me to sympathize with her (though I did finish the book). I had to skip a whole chapter in Tiffany Schmidt's SEND ME A SIGN because of a dying pet, and gritted my teeth together when Jerome reveals that he used to kill cats in Martha Brockenbrough's DEVINE INTERVENTION (though this is admittedly a good reason for Jerome to worry he might end up in hell).
There are times, too, that I'll avoid books entirely because other readers have warned me about animals dying within (such as BLACK CITY by Elizabeth Richards and ORIGIN by Jessica Khoury - as much as I find the premises of these books appealing, I just can't go there right now).
That is not to say I don't think there is a legitimate place for animal deaths in some stories. For example, I thought the way KM Walton handled it in CRACKED was justifiable and moving. See, Victor is friendless, hopeless, and plagued with suicidal thoughts. The family's elderly poodle is Victor's only reason for living - so when he dies, it's the final straw. (Note: I think it was wise that Walton stressed that the poodle lived a full and happy life.) And Megan Shepherd's THE MADMAN'S DAUGHTER would have hardly worked as a retelling of THE ISLAND OF DR MOREAU without being true to the original's animal experimentation plotline.
If animal deaths are also a deal breaker for you, you might want to check out this list of books where the dog dies (sadly I couldn't find a similar list for cats) and this website which covers all animal deaths in movies.
(Speaking of movies, I was beside myself with worry for the cat in MOONRISE KINGDOM, and then *pow* the poor dog bites it.)
What's your take? When is it acceptable to portray animal deaths in fiction - if ever?
Recently, I was reading AMITY & SORROW, an adult novel about a mother and a pair of sisters fleeing a cult. With spare and haunting prose, Author Peggy Riley shows us the horrors these women have lived through and how difficult it can be to escape our pasts. She also shows how warped Sorrow has become, detailing her increasingly erratic and destructive behavior. But then Sorrow kills a kitten - and I had to put down the book forever.
Perhaps I'm overly sensitive, but that act seemed unnecessary. I already knew that Sorrow was seriously messed up - wasn't there another way to illustrate how far she'd go? Anything other than killing a newborn kitten?
There are other books that have shocked me with their cat and dog killing ways. One of my biggest hurdles to liking fan favorite JELLICOE ROAD by Melina Marchetta is that Taylor drowns a cat - and once she did that, it was very difficult for me to sympathize with her (though I did finish the book). I had to skip a whole chapter in Tiffany Schmidt's SEND ME A SIGN because of a dying pet, and gritted my teeth together when Jerome reveals that he used to kill cats in Martha Brockenbrough's DEVINE INTERVENTION (though this is admittedly a good reason for Jerome to worry he might end up in hell).
There are times, too, that I'll avoid books entirely because other readers have warned me about animals dying within (such as BLACK CITY by Elizabeth Richards and ORIGIN by Jessica Khoury - as much as I find the premises of these books appealing, I just can't go there right now).
That is not to say I don't think there is a legitimate place for animal deaths in some stories. For example, I thought the way KM Walton handled it in CRACKED was justifiable and moving. See, Victor is friendless, hopeless, and plagued with suicidal thoughts. The family's elderly poodle is Victor's only reason for living - so when he dies, it's the final straw. (Note: I think it was wise that Walton stressed that the poodle lived a full and happy life.) And Megan Shepherd's THE MADMAN'S DAUGHTER would have hardly worked as a retelling of THE ISLAND OF DR MOREAU without being true to the original's animal experimentation plotline.
If animal deaths are also a deal breaker for you, you might want to check out this list of books where the dog dies (sadly I couldn't find a similar list for cats) and this website which covers all animal deaths in movies.
(Speaking of movies, I was beside myself with worry for the cat in MOONRISE KINGDOM, and then *pow* the poor dog bites it.)
What's your take? When is it acceptable to portray animal deaths in fiction - if ever?
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