Downer Ending/Literature: Difference between revisions

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** That's probably because of [[Values Dissonance]]. As a staunch - ahem - Christian, he seemed to believe that dying well and going to Heaven was the ultimate [[Happy Ending]].

* The last book of the [[Sienkiewicz Trilogy]], ''Pan Wolodjyowski'', ends with the main character dead, along with several of his companions, and part of Poland ceded to the enemy. It is especially tragic for his wife, as the book deals with their relationship, which is very loving. This is in stark contrast to two earlier books in the trilogy, ''With Fire and Sword'' and ''The Deluge'', both which see the lead couples get reunited and also end with victorious battles.

* ''[[Harry Potter and ~~The~~ Order of ~~The~~ Phoenix]]'': His Godfather is killed, which is made worse when Harry finds out that he didn't even need rescuing in the first place and to make matters worse, it turns out that the weight of the Wizarding world is on his shoulders alone. And just to twist the metaphorical knife, Harry realizes in the end that he could've used Sirius' magic mirror to talk directly to him all along.

* ''[[Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (novel)|Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix]]'': His Godfather is killed, which is made worse when Harry finds out that he didn't even need rescuing in the first place and to make matters worse, it turns out that the weight of the Wizarding world is on his shoulders alone. And just to twist the metaphorical knife, Harry realizes in the end that he could've used Sirius' magic mirror to talk directly to him all along.

** ''Phoenix'' is arguably a [[Bittersweet Ending]] though, since the wizarding world believes Harry in the end. ''Prince'' is a more straight example.

** Even worse is ''[[Harry Potter and ~~The~~ Half Blood Prince]]'', which ends with Dumbledore dead; Snape apparently evil and definitely a killer; Bill Weasley permanently scarred right before his wedding; and Harry, Ron, and Hermione dropping out of school to finish what Dumbledore started, knowing how slim their chances are. Harry even breaks off his new relationship with Ginny.

** Even worse is ''[[Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (novel)|Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince]]'', which ends with Dumbledore dead; Snape apparently evil and definitely a killer; Bill Weasley permanently scarred right before his wedding; and Harry, Ron, and Hermione dropping out of school to finish what Dumbledore started, knowing how slim their chances are. Harry even breaks off his new relationship with Ginny.

** Even before any of that is Goblet of Fire which ends with the Harry witnessing the death of a classmate (indeed the first "on screen" death in the series) and the return of Magic Hitler. Not to mention that almost no one believes him and many people think he's responsible for killing Cedric.

** Even before any of that is ''Goblet of Fire'', which ends with the Harry witnessing the death of a classmate (indeed the first "on screen" death in the series) and the return of Magic Hitler. Not to mention that almost no one believes him and many people think he's responsible for killing Cedric.

** After his true allegiance was revealed, Snape's storyline arguably had the biggest Downer Ending is the entire series.

* The [[Stephen King]] novel ''[[The Green Mile]]'': The protagonist is forced to execute John Coffey, the black man who did not do the crime he is being executed for, but not before he's [[Blessed with Suck]] by him, and thus is forced to watch in perfect health while his friends die of old age, and is not injured in a catastrophic bus crash that takes the life of everyone else on the bus, including his wife. The book ends with his final friend, a woman in the nursing home where he lives, dying before he can tell her about his wife, and him spending his final days alone and wishing for death, but still in perfect health. As hard as it is to believe, the film was an upper ending in comparison.