One of the most powerful character arcs I’ve seen in fiction is when a character has to make an active choice and accept a hard truth in their advancement as a person.
Here are some examples that I enjoy (spoilers below for Norwegian Wood, A Song of Ice and Fire, and Better Call Saul):
In Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami, one of the main themes is accepting loss and growing up. This book captures these ideas perfectly.
In A Song of Ice and Fire by George R.R. Martin, >!characters like Jon Snow, Theon Greyjoy, Jaime Lannister, Arya Stark, Sansa Stark, and so many more are constantly making active choices regarding their identities. For example, Jon Snow constantly denies himself temptations to follow Ned Stark’s shoes of being a Stark of Winterfell and instead does his duty as a man of the Night’s Watch.!< The series is almost overwhelming about identity, which is another theme I enjoy being explored in fiction.
Not a book, but the end of the tv series Better Call Saul also perfectly captures what I’m talking about. At the end of the series, >!Saul gives up his identity of “Saul Goodman” to once again become his former self Jimmy McGill, at the cost of life in prison. He does this so he can look his true love in the eye once more. This is a very bittersweet ending. Even though he now has life in prison, his better self has finally won the inner war that he has struggled with the entire series.!<
As you may tell from my examples, I am open to pretty much any genre. What are some more stories that explore the active choices we make in accepting hard truths and choosing our identities?
by Haunted_Milk