Finding Value in the Life of Characters

I am currently reading a book by the modern philosopher Colin Wilson entitled Super Consciousness. This book is an explanation and how-to manual for achieving a more positive view of the world, and with it, an elevated sense of awareness. In his review on literature concerning this topic, he emphasizes the fact that surviving near-death experiences will often result in a euphoric feeling, which in writers can lead to a greater appreciation of the world around us. However, I was instantly reminded of a few of my own experiences.

Disregarding the fact that I have had more than one near-death experience (which is a very scary fact), I have been trying to determine the effect of these experiences upon my own writing. For example, when I was in Boy Scouts, we had an overnight visit to a World War II battleship that had been converted to a museum. Being the "explorer" that I am, I took it upon myself to sneak into a restricted area and climb up the five or six levels to the top of the battleship. It was winter and this part of the ship had not been maintained, so there was ice all along the walkways. Of course I slipped on the ice and fell partially under the single chain that acted as a barrier between the walkway and a 100 foot-plus drop. I am glad to report that I did not fall to my death, but managed to stay on the walkway as my feet dangled over the edge.

Some of my writing is violent. Some of it is compassionate. Whatever I am writing though, the fact that life can be fleeting remains a strong fact. I am not claiming that my near-experiences have brought me to a higher level of thinking as Wilson suggests they ultimately will. But I have grown to appreciate the fact that life is not something that we can take for granted. I try to use this heavy metric when determining which of my characters live and which ones die. Characters will always remain a tool for me with which to express myself, but that will not stop me from weighing the pros and cons of killing them off.