Our book club nearly fell apart over a single character's death

Last month we spent the whole meeting arguing about whether killing off the dog in chapter 8 was necessary for the plot or just cheap emotional manipulation. Has anyone else had a debate like this derail your whole discussion?

2 comments

2 Comments

julia_anderson13d ago

Isn't killing the dog just lazy writing when they could have built tension another way?

claire_hart5313d ago

Have you ever noticed how killing the dog can also be a cheap way to make us root for a revenge plot without earning it? I get what you're saying @julia_anderson about lazy writing, but what bugs me more is when they do it to skip character development. Like in that show "The Outsiders" where the hero's dog dies in episode two, and suddenly he's a cold blooded killer. They could have showed his anger building over real things instead of just using the dog as a shortcut. Makes the whole story feel hollow.