Characterisation: How to make it evident that a character's flawed perspective is intentional?
I'm writing a novel which has alternating point of views; odd chapters are from an angsty, neglected twelve/thirteen-year-old girl who's struggling with belongingness, puberty, and parental confusion/neglect, and even chapters are from the perspective of an academic who's been thrust into his scholarly position at too young of an age (twenty-five), and in general has prematurely aged to the point of wanting to adopt the first POV character.
Naturally, both of these characters are highly flawed, and the girl in particular has a poor attitude to sexuality in both others and herself (calling herself a 'slut' for liking a boy with a girlfriend, blaming her mother's promiscuity for her childhood neglect when in truth it's her mother's hedonism and inability to prioritise her children's wellbeing).
Now, I know this is a flawed perspective, I intend it to be a flawed perspective (I don't think an angry, confused twelve-year-old girl is the epitome of a role model), yet some (not all) readers interpret my work as somehow endorsing 'slut-shaming'.
I have a few ideas of my own regarding how to make these flaws appear to be deliberate, but obviously I'm not fully clued in if readers are still making this mistake, so I want to know you guys' thoughts on the matter.
Edit: I'll elaborate on a few of the ideas I already have.
- Have reality or another sympathetic character disagree with their view, in the form of consequences or interpersonal conflict.
- Have the character wrestle with these wrong viewpoints themselves.
- Incorporate the removal of these misguided views into their character arc.
- Make sure the character's worldview is regularly challenged by other characters and not taken as gospel (acting closer to a broken clock, right twice a day).
None of these are mutually exclusive. Can you guys think of anything else?
This post was sourced from https://writers.stackexchange.com/q/38172. It is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
2 answers
I'd leave it. As far as a 25 year old male "adopting" a 13 year old girl; my suspension of disbelief is already broken. Without a blood relation, I'd be amazed if any court allowed that, or closet pedophiles would be adopting them daily.
You'd have a better chance with same-gender professor that IS a blood relation, like an aunt or older cousin. The courts are sympathetic to keeping blood relations together, and the "pedophile danger" is far lower for two females than for any other combination.
As for slut-shaming: What's wrong with an immature character, just beginning to think about sex, that engages in slut shaming, or has all kinds of immature misconceptions about sex, what is moral and what is not? (particularly in the age of Internet porn). I see nothing wrong with that dynamic, or her having the notion (gathered from porn) that girls are expected to be promiscuous, or forward, and deciding she can "belong to the club" by being promiscuous and forward.
One of the dynamics you can play on with two MC that are supposed to get together is complementary characters. Give both of them strengths and weaknesses, so together they really are stronger than they are independently. And like friends, you can give them similar interests in entertainment and activities, so they bond over shared experiences.
I wouldn't worry about slut-shaming, you probably want that to be a lesson she learns somewhere in the book, what is and is not "slutty", and in general to avoid self-denigration and self-devaluation over sexual feelings. But to start, she's 13, she's got ten or twelve years before we can expect her to be thinking like a fully functional adult (same for guys, btw).
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A good solution is to clearly show how the flaws are an obstacle for the character when they try to achieve their goals.
For example, if the girl in your story manages to seduce the boy who is in a relationship and has great sex with him, it might seem as if you endorse such behavior. But if the boy rejects her and expresses his contempt for her because she tries to have sex with him although she knows that he's in a relationship and others witness her attempt at seduction and she is socially isolated as a "slut", then all this makes it clear to the reader that you do not endorse sluttiness but rather want to show how it is a problem for those who behave in such a way, because it increases the loneliness and leads to further trauma.
This post was sourced from https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/38176. It is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
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