Nobody likes to fail. Most people don't even like to read about failure. But as painful as it is, failure is one of the most powerful tools you can use to develop your protagonist's character and make his story matter.
To continue my Marvel-themed blog post streak, I'll use the movie Thor as an example today. Partly because it's one of the best illustrations of this concept that I've seen, and mostly because it's one of my favourite movies.
So what does failure do for your story? What does it accomplish in Thor?
So what does failure do for your story? What does it accomplish in Thor?
1. Readers Relate to Failure
Guess what: everybody fails. Some people fail so much that their lives could be summed up by the word. We all have experienced the pain and shame of failing at something and that pain connects us on a deep, fundamental level with characters who also fail. (That's part of the reason why Mary Sues are so unpopular: they never fail at anything.)
In the movie, Thor starts out as a real jerk. He's proud, insensitive, irresponsible, disobedient... (the list could go on). And yet he's the hero of the piece, so the movie makers have to get the viewers rooting for him. The way they did it was to strip Thor of his god-like powers and send him to Midgard, where he is bested by tasers, hypodermic needles, and political science students.
Guess what: everybody fails. Some people fail so much that their lives could be summed up by the word. We all have experienced the pain and shame of failing at something and that pain connects us on a deep, fundamental level with characters who also fail. (That's part of the reason why Mary Sues are so unpopular: they never fail at anything.)
In the movie, Thor starts out as a real jerk. He's proud, insensitive, irresponsible, disobedient... (the list could go on). And yet he's the hero of the piece, so the movie makers have to get the viewers rooting for him. The way they did it was to strip Thor of his god-like powers and send him to Midgard, where he is bested by tasers, hypodermic needles, and political science students.
Thor is now the underdog and has no clue how to cope with it, which leaves us feeling at least a little sorry for him. We really hope he escapes from the hospital and gets his hammer back from those snotty SHIELD agents.
Making your protagonist fail not only makes your readers root for him, but also helps them step into his shoes and experience the story through his eyes, since failure is common ground for all of us.
Making your protagonist fail not only makes your readers root for him, but also helps them step into his shoes and experience the story through his eyes, since failure is common ground for all of us.
2. Failure Brings a Person to the End of Himself
What's good about that, you ask?
What's good about that, you ask?
"I would never write about someone who is not at the end of his rope" -Stanley Elkin
In order to get Thor to the point where he saw the world the way it really was (without himself at the centre), the movie makers had to take away every last thing that was important to him. There were a lot of these, but the main one was his magical hammer. Even with his superpowers gone, Thor was convinced that all he needed to get back to Asgard was to find his hammer. When he does find it, but is unable to lift it, he finally realises his complete helplessness.
It's not until a person's completely broken that we find out what he's really made of. Most characters will, like Thor, have some strengths--whether they be superpowers, intelligence, skill, luck, or sheer stubbornness--that they depend on, consciously or subconsciously, to carry them through any exigency. When these strengths fail them, there's nothing for them to fall back on but their weaknesses--all the things about themselves that they really don't like and maybe always pretended weren't even there. But those things that were still important.
The end of his rope isn't a place anyone wants to go, but everyone has to go there in order to learn some vital truths about himself.
The end of his rope isn't a place anyone wants to go, but everyone has to go there in order to learn some vital truths about himself.
3. Failure Forces a Person to Rely on Others
It's generally considered admirable to be what's known as a self-made person. But no one is truly self-made. Everyone relies at least partially on others for his success and for his very existence. Sometimes it takes failure to make us realise just how much we need other peoples' help.
Thor's failure forces him to rely on his friends--both new friends and old ones. When he's no longer able to help himself his friends step in and help him out.
It's generally considered admirable to be what's known as a self-made person. But no one is truly self-made. Everyone relies at least partially on others for his success and for his very existence. Sometimes it takes failure to make us realise just how much we need other peoples' help.
Thor's failure forces him to rely on his friends--both new friends and old ones. When he's no longer able to help himself his friends step in and help him out.
Failure plays a big part in Thor because it's exactly what's needed to bring down the arrogant Thor and turn him into the likable superhero he is at the end of the movie.
But check out some other great movies. Chances are, failure plays a significant part in those as well. In Megamind the hero fails constantly throughout the movie and his failures teach him a truth that eventually helps him defeat the villain: Bad guys always lose. In It's a Wonderful Life George Bailey's failures teach him a valuable lesson as well: "No one's a failure if he has friends."
Make your characters fail. Make their greatest strengths desert them or even be the very things that screw them up. Then demonstrate that failure isn't what defines them but what refines them and paves the way to success.
But check out some other great movies. Chances are, failure plays a significant part in those as well. In Megamind the hero fails constantly throughout the movie and his failures teach him a truth that eventually helps him defeat the villain: Bad guys always lose. In It's a Wonderful Life George Bailey's failures teach him a valuable lesson as well: "No one's a failure if he has friends."
Make your characters fail. Make their greatest strengths desert them or even be the very things that screw them up. Then demonstrate that failure isn't what defines them but what refines them and paves the way to success.