Novel end up with suicide. To post or not to post.

[Bartun]

'An old man dies, a little girl lives... Fair trade,"

 

[N.K.Watson]

Art is art, in my opinion. You could tag it with trigger warnings, but I think in the end, if it is the story you want to tell, it's the story you want to tell.

 

[naosu]

You need to change the ending. You can't leave it with a suicide ending. That's like when you watch a movie and it has a 'Fuck you ending'. That's what they call that. And that's what readers or viewers call or perceive it. They'll think you are trying to fuck them over.

Now I'm not upset at you. Not trying to stir the pot. I'm just trying to help you see the pothole in the road ahead of you is ... a lot bigger than you think. Readers don't like 'fuck you' endings. They'll be mad at you if you do that. So by mentioning it, I'm trying to help you avoid trouble.

People get invested in the main character. Its like their persona and second skin in this new life you are giving them. That's why... don't purposely mess it up for them.

At the very least give them a warning in the story description that you intend to purposely break all the toys. But even then people don't like endings like that. I was trying to think of an example, OK for TV shows for example, people don't like how they ended the first Dexter TV series. Like killing the sister and then having him self defeat. That's kind of similar to a F U ending... not quite the same. How they messed up Blacklist by killing the main girl also,... some people will perceive that badly too though its not quite the same. People will decide not to watch that show anymore after they got rid of Elizabeth Keen.

You don't want them to do this kind of reaction to you.

 

[CharlesEBrown]

It really depends on the story - sometimes the HEROIC thing to do is for the character to end him or herself (I've seen translations of Japanese stories where this worked, and stories where the character clearly went insane and it was the "best" option).
And then you have Victor Frankenstein's Creature who tried to kill himself and found he probably could not (he could kill his maker, though ... and then stranded himself on the arctic ice floe).

 

[SternenklarenRitter]

The rules on content go something like this:

User Content​

You agree not to post User Content that:

• Contains any information or content that we deem to be unlawful, harmful, abusive, racially or ethnically offensive, defamatory, infringing, invasive of personal privacy or publicity rights, harassing, humiliating to other people (publicly or otherwise), libelous, threatening, or otherwise objectionable;
• May create a risk of any other loss or damage to any person or property;
• May create a risk of harm, loss, physical or mental injury, emotional distress, death, disability, disfigurement, or physical or mental illness to you, to any other person, or to any animal;
• May constitute or contribute to a crime or tort;
• Contains any information or content that is illegal;
• Contains any information or content that you know is not correct and current; or
• Contains any information or content that you do not have a right to make available under any law or under contractual or fiduciary relationships; or
• Constitutes “Spam”, advertising, or business related communications.

Nothing directly prohibits writing about suicide. However, the rules prohibit encouraging, promoting, and glorifying suicide (which fall under content that presents "risk of harm, death, mental illness"). You will be fine if you put on a mature content tag, a tragedy tag, and clearly spoil the suicide ending in the synopsis. Maybe repeat at the end of every chapter that suicide is never the answer to any problem, and that readers should immediately stop reading and report to their local hospital if they feel they are in danger of harming themself or attempting suicide.
If you commit to writing this story you need to treat the topic of suicide with utmost respect and all the seriousness that the deadly condition deserves.

 

[SiennaSanterre]

Well, at least one piece of classical literature (blanking on it at the moment but read it along with The Yellow Wallpaper, which might have been better if it did end in a suicide) does, it might be fine.

What immediately comes to mind for me is Graham Greene's 'The Heart of the Matter.'