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Q&A In a first-person web novel, how to make the reader aware of a motivator the POV is unaware of?

In my novel, the MC (and POV character) spares an enemy. He spared the enemy because he empathized/identified himself with them, but he was not aware of it. Later on he will understand his feelings...

3 answers  ·  posted 5y ago by Mindwin‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by System‭

#3: Attribution notice added by user avatar System‭ · 2019-12-08T10:06:39Z (over 4 years ago)
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/q/39929
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#2: Initial revision by user avatar Mindwin‭ · 2019-12-08T10:06:39Z (over 4 years ago)
In my novel, the MC (and POV character) spares an enemy. He spared the enemy because he empathized/identified himself with them, but he was not aware of it. Later on he will understand his feelings and eventually make amends and the enemy will shift into a friend as they solve their conflict. (MC is dense).

Some readers questioned why he did that (spare the enemy). But I don't know how to expose this detail to the reader when the POV is unaware of it. What should I do?

#1: Imported from external source by user avatar System‭ · 2018-11-06T13:18:29Z (over 5 years ago)
Original score: 0