‘A good tragedy is always both preventable and inevitable’ is one of my main hills to die on. It’s literally so important to me. I’m fucking correct
It’s only tragedy if you convince yourself, for even just a moment, that everything could be ok, despite knowing it won’t be. Tragedy lies in ‘so close, yet so far.’ It’s avoidable because it would only take a tiny alteration to prevent disaster, but human nature is in the way- not maliciously, not knowingly, despite trying so hard.
If it’s just preventable, that’s barely even sad. Why didn’t they prevent it, then? If it’s just inevitable, that’s only marginally better. Why would we weep? Our hopes can’t be dashed on the rocks, we can’t hope.
Every tragedy worth the paper it’s written on could be averted by a single word, a single choice, a single hesitation, but won’t be, because the subjects are only human. Not because they were weak, stupid, or evil- simply human. Their simple humanity makes disaster inevitable.
And in my opinion, the very best tragedy, the very most heartwrenching, comes from the hero making the right decision every time- from their perspective.
It’s when you know you would have done the exact same thing in their shoes, and only because of your perspective as the reader are you able to see what it will cost. That’s what really rocks my socks
