As I've written in the Comedy Analysis: Me cutting my finger is a tragedy, you falling in a sewer and dying is comedy gold (loosely quoted since my goal is to talk about tragedy, ladies and gentlemen).
Now there are many misconceptions of what makes a tragedy. In truth, tragedy is neither horrific nor suspenseful... It is merely sad. There was a kid who got hit by a car under a bridge in my neighbourhood.
He was a good kid... kind, helpful, and the kind of ordinary child you'd look at and want to see the bright future of. However, one day, while he was coming home from school, he was hit by a speeding car of a woman who was texting on her phone.
Does hearing about this make you feel sad? Well good, because this is a tragedy we're talking about.
Story's are meant to let us feel a wide variety of emotions whether they are negative, positive or anything else. Some have the misconception that a story 'must be enjoyable' to be appreciated, which is shortsighted view to understand tragedies.
Even people of the past saw tales that warned of consequences for foolish actions as something that can be 'enjoyed' in theatre. The term 'Greek Tragedy' was coined to tales that served as lessons to those who could understand the deeper subtext.
Shakespeare has written about a man trying to avenge himself after suffering tragedy, yet he chose not to romanticise this 'Avenger' in theatre and put focus on the ensuing tragedies that came from carving out a path of blood to get to your goals...
Good, bad... right and wrong, how is a tragedy meant to teach us this? If the writer of a tragedy was extremely blatant with his messages, he would have been kicked out of Greek Theatre in a heartbeat.
Rather than being a Pen Warrior who only speaks of injustice but do not understand the entirety of the audience you are presented with. It is better to talk about tragedy with a more objective stance on the matter. After all, tragedies themselves are not 'evil'.
If tragedies happen because of evil, then who could be blamed for the accident that caused a young boy to die in my neighbourhood? Was it the woman driver who was careless, or was it God responsible?
Normally, the careless individuals who become the cause of an accident are stricken with as much grief as the victim's family members from the guilt of what they have done... so could you define them as 'evil'?
What about God who let an innocent child die without having the chance to see his own future?
Perhaps there are times when a tragedy is the ACTUALLY the result of ill-will such as a house robbery like that in the 'Law-Abiding Citizen' movie I saw a few years ago. However, that one was more of a thriller that used the tragedy as a foundation for its story rather than a pure tragedy and the sense of powerlessness people have after the incident...
A regular tragedy is a cautionary tale to spark distress and sadness in their reader's, a profound gift from the story's author... However, that doesn't mean that tragedy can't be used with other genres.
The thing is that, normally, rather than showing something sad. Those who write tragedy blended with other genres tend to allow one of their characters to experience the brunt of the sadness we feel and make a decision that perhaps even we wouldn't dare to choose. This makes us hopeful...
In Law-Abiding Citizen, the main character commits atrocity after atrocity towards the criminals that had directly caused the 'tragedy' that killed his whole family. However, we never feel that he is wrong...
That's because we know the true extent of how this tragedy changed our originally kind protagonist. We feel happy to see him enact revenge, but we also feel grief when we realise his powerlessness of being unable to bring his family back. To him, revenge is an act of trying to attain salvation. However, to us, we are left wondering what was the point of it all...
A tragedy can never be reversed unless you can travel through time and stop it from taking place.
We, the readers, can stay detached from a tragedy in a take, but how would we feel in HIS situation?
Would we do the same?
It's complicated... and that is fine. Tragedies are food for thought to readers and the reality of their fiction.
If your character is corrupted by the turmoil or if he finds the will to move past that 'incident', then that story is no longer a tragedy... No, it becomes much more, as there are infinite possibilities for the future.
Whether you choose to let your character live in the past or moved past the tragedy and into a different genre is your own choice. However, the scars of the tragedy must remain... just as it would on us.
Tragedies are not written to be forgotten, as they will stay in our hearts long after. How we choose to live after the fact is both our choice and what will give what happened meaning. Because if we don't give tragedy meaning ourselves, we will start living in a senseless world where the death of someone close wouldn't matter. A very dreadful world of death...
Well, that's all I have. Be sure to make meaning and give meaning, because it is always 'meaningful'.
NovelGuy out!