Their Fate is Sealed

I think one of the strangest sites is a person who is reading a book and is legitimately worried about what happens to a character in the story. For what reason is there to be afraid? I say this not because they are fictional, but because their fate is sealed.

I have no problems with bonding with fictional characters. We connect to the story, to the situation. Sometimes we imprint ourselves in the story and sometimes we simply sympathize with the situations presented. In either case, if you really like a character, it is understandable to want good things to happen to them.

However, there reaches a point in a story's life where it is no longer changed. When the story is being written, it is malleable. That stays all the way until the book is published for the world to see. At that point, it belongs to the ages. No amount of wishing or oping or trying is going to affect what happens to the characters in a story. It has become an account of facts.

If you have bonded with characters, it is understandable that you would be sad when tragedy befalls them. But to be worried for their well-being is ridiculous. When you are reading a finished work, there is no point in worrying about a character. Their fate is sealed. Just because you don't know what will happen doesn't mean it hasn't already been decided. The future is unchangeable (which is deliciously ironic if a story's message is about fighting fate), so all you can do is discover what has already been decided.