Hypothetical Thought

[Raviel the Phantom]

For my novel that I am working on, there is a character who has a condition where she suddenly no longer feels the pain of loss when it comes to death. Her parents die, and she struggles because she feels nothing. Now I have one way of looking at it, but would like another opinion.

So if you could put yourself in the character's shoes, how would you feel if you lost someone close, and felt nothing at all over their loss.

[Cool Girl]

Ahhh so you're also a writer!

I'm also writing a novel and I can relate to your character 'cause that's also how she feels.

If you want, I can send you the novel I'm writing. If you read it, maybe it'll help you with your character.

Let me know if you're interested!

Also, I wish the best of luck to you!

[Strider]

I think the biggest feeling would be guilt, because most people feel that when someone they care for dies, they deserve the respect that is inherent to mourning.

However, other people in this characters life might begin to think less of them because they show no love for their family members

I think that if a character was surrounded by others who could feel the pain of a close death, these people would begin to take their feelings out on the person who seems to show no emotion.

Just my thoughts.

[Synthetic Rose]

Loss is the only thing she can't feel?

I realize it may not be the same, but I play a character in an RP setting who's the archetypal assassin-slave, incapable of ~any~ sort of emotion at all due to harsh, horrific training and years of indoctrination and dehumanization. She was originally created for a d20 system game, and 'I am a weapon, not a person' had been her mantra since character creation. She's interesting to portray, because a lot of the things we ~say~ and take for granted as part of the social contract imply emotion that my character couldn't understand having, so she would balk at saying them. Things as simple as "it's a pleasure to meet you" become fraught with questions, because... well, it ~isn't~ a pleasure for her to meet you. Or anyone. It isn't painful for her to meet someone either, even though she assassinated the person's lover last week.

When those kinds of situations come up in your novel, say, another character is grieving and expects the main character to grieve too. Does she say "I'm sorry," "I'll miss her," etc, even though she isn't and she won't, just to appease the social contract? Does she take a more pragmatic viewpoint, and admonish the character for not being able to move on? Does she falter in her indecision? Does she start to lock away her other emotions, too?

That's a thing that may well happen. She locks away her guilt at her inability to feel loss, and then with no guilt to guide her, she does more and more reprehensible things. People begin to shun her because she's become kind of an ass, so she locks away her anger at the people she feels abandoned her. One emotion at a time, she locks them away as the frayed ends of a system that's missing a piece, until suddenly she realizes they're all gone. Kind of a depressing story, but it's not entirely out of the realm of possibility.

[Tomas Elliot]

Well Synthetic Rose does have a point in that a condition is never THAT specific.

Instead of being incapable of feeling sad about a loss, the girl should have some kind of issue or condition that blocks off said feeling as a side-effect. Like Elektra of Daredevil fame, who is so hardened by her training she cannot shed a tear even when her dad is murdered in front of her, or Sapphire from Disgaea 3, who is physically unable to cry and beats herself up because of it.

Basically, I am suggesting thay you depict this condition as a wide, complex set of causes and effects, and not as a convenient plot device.

[Raviel the Phantom]

Well she is Death, so the fact that she is not saddened by death is the side-effect.

[Tomas Elliot]

Well she is Death, so the fact that she is not saddened by death is the side-effect.

When asking for advice, you might want to explicitly state this kind of stuff from the get go. It completely changes my understanding of the situation, you know.

So, if she is Death, there are some questions that need answering: does she still do her job as Death, while busy with whatever the plot is about? If so, how does she get the two sides of her life to coexist? If not, why did she leave her job, and what kind of consequences were there because of her doing so?

I think answering these questions will put you on the right track: maybe a cool twist might be to put the spotlight on the fact that she genuinely respects the value of life. After all, who can understand the value of something, better than the one in charge of ending it?

She knows how much each and every one of us has to live. Thus, she knows the exact worth of each life: this cannot teach her compassion, as that would be against her job description, but it can very well teach her respect.

Just an idea: other possible ones include the cold, detatched professional, the conflicted empath, or the perky goth executioner. Recommended read which would help you immensely: Mort by Terry Pratchett.