Round Robin 6-27-15
Every person has good and bad traits, everyone does both good and bad things and we certainly have plenty of examples emerging from our various media. There is a precipice each character stands on–one side is too good to be true, the other side too evil to exist. What makes a character too good to believe? How evil can a main character become before they are irredeemable?
Every human has foibles. Without them, we wouldn’t be human. Even the Dalai Lama has them, I’m sure. In order for me to relate to a protagonist, I need to see humanity in them. They can’t be like Cora in The Last of the Mohicans. Perfection, while okay in this particular literary work, doesn’t in most fictional pieces of today. Most of us want to see a “real” person struggle and grow, not a one-dimensional caricature of a person. We aren’t like that. We will never be rid of anger, sadness, jealousy, fear, frustration, and so on. Even if we don’t outwardly show it, it’s there. No one is always happy.
And people deal with stressful situations differently. While one might get angry and frustrated, another might cry and throw a pity party. As long as there is something to show me that character is human and subject to the same emotions we are, I can get on their side. Even if the character lets most things slide of their backs, I still want to see that moment of uncertainty, fear, anger, even a little white lie, etc., even if it’s only internal.
A character who doesn’t show some negative emotion through whatever is thrown at him/her is not believable.
For an evil character, I don’t know if I care as much. They are typically shown as stereotypes and I don’t know if they can ever be redeemable for me. Of course, it might depend on the severity of the crime. Someone who has been a child molester or serial killer is not ever redeemable for me. A thief is redeemable. A murderer, not so much… although there are people who have murdered and come back to be contributing members of society, who have changed their ways.
Someone who has destroyed another person’s livelihood or life or done something to damage the environment might be redeemable. It all depends on how the author works this and how many times that character has done it.
Since we’ve seen some pretty heinous crimes committed by some very evil people (Charles Manson, Ted Bundy, Idi Amin, Hitler, to name a few), I don’t there’s really a point of being too evil.
I have a series (The Children of Itar) I’m working on. I really wanted the second book to follow this character Esme and perhaps see a redemption of her character, but, at this point, I don’t think it’s going to work. No matter how hard I try, she’s just evil.
The protagonist Eleanor of the first book, The Whispering House, is a strong character, but has her foibles as any good character does. She has to overcome fear, self-doubt, anger, and frustration to finally realize her goal. She does, but it’s a journey, just like it is for all of us.
So, for you, what makes a character too good to believe? Or what makes a character too evil? Is there such a thing as a too good and evil characters?
Find out what some of these other authors think:
The posts on this topic have been interesting, sharing viewpoints but different, too.
Your problem with Esme sounds difficult. It’s always hard to discard a story when it goes somewhere you didn’t expect. Hope you work out the problem. It reminds me of the movie Hannibal Rising.
Thanks, Rhobin. I haven’t written anything yet. I’m a pantser. If it’s going to happen, she’ll make it known to me. I kind of don’t think it will, though. LOL
Marci
Good post. You made some interesting points about evil and who could be redeemable. I agree with the child molester and serial killer.
I had to think on what would be redeemable (for me, mind you) and what wouldn’t, Beverly. I just don’t think I could accept someone who committed either of those two crimes and believe they’d changed their life around. Not that it isn’t possible, but that it’s highly improbable.
Thanks for stopping by. 🙂
That’s why I’ve never read or seen the movies about Hannibal Lector. I’ve never read about Ted Bundy or John Gacy either, and Jeffrey Dahmer got what he deserved in the jail shower.
I don’t understand the fascination of wanting to understand how the minds of such aberrant people work, I just want them removed permanently from society, so they can’t hurt anyone else ever again.
But I also despise characters who are “too good,” and who never seem to have any undue desires or feelings. I find characters like that too dull to read.
Fiona,
I don’t like those kinds of movies or books either. I don’t like horror movies at all. I have no interest in delving into their minds either. What other people find fascinating about them is beyond me, truly.
Many years ago, I tried to read a Barbara Cartland romance. The heroine had more brain than hair, and I couldn’t finish it. I can’t stand those kinds of characters either.
No one is perfect. That’s what makes each of us interesting.
Marci,
Interesting, about how your one character Esme is fighting your attempts to redeem her somehow. That’s one of the most fascinating things I’ve learned about writing: the characters reveal themselves to you, you don’t really reveal the characters. And true, no one is happy all the time! I had a character like that once (long ago, thank goodness) and eventually I kind of wanted to smack her because it was so incredibly unrealistic. Good post!
Rachael,
Yeah, I don’t think she wants to be redeemed, but it’s hard to say. I was thinking about it last night, and more facts about her were revealed to me. Funny how that happens, huh? They only tell us what they want us to know when they want us to know. LOL With Esme, there were some key points I was missing until almost the end.
My editor said, “Hey, why didn’t you give us more information about her before this time?”
I said, “Because I didn’t know.” LOL
Too good is also annoying and unbelievable. Unless we are dead, all of us are besieged with doubts and longings. And, who knows, maybe even when we are dead. LOL
This is such a fascinating topic and everyone has a different take. Of course the evil person thinks he is good. Always important to remember that when you’re writing a bad character. They have so many justifictations. Fiction is always a good venue to delve into good and evil. thanks for your interesting post.