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Q&A Does the reader need to like the PoV character?

I have the feeling this is already been asked, but I can't seem to find it. Close the question if it comes out as duplicate. There's an issue with novels with a first-person narrator, or a third p...

5 answers  ·  posted 5y ago by Liquid‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by System‭

#4: Attribution notice removed by user avatar System‭ · 2019-12-13T11:56:50Z (almost 5 years ago)
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/q/43843
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#3: Attribution notice added by user avatar System‭ · 2019-12-08T11:27:03Z (almost 5 years ago)
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/q/43843
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#2: Initial revision by (deleted user) · 2019-12-08T11:27:03Z (almost 5 years ago)
I have the feeling this is already been asked, but I can't seem to find it. Close the question if it comes out as duplicate.

There's an issue with novels with a first-person narrator, or a third person limited narrator that doesn't switch point of view. Namely, the reader is stuck for all the novel with the same character.

**Does the reader need to like the character?** Of course, it seems a nice thing to have, but is it **necessary**?

Even if the narrator follows just one character, there is usually more that's happening in a novel. The plot. The other characters and their struggles. The worldbuilding.

## Are those elements enough to make a story interesting\* despite the unlikeablity of the PoV character?

\*NB: Interesting, here, means that the readere will keep reading it to the end.

#1: Imported from external source by user avatar System‭ · 2019-03-21T09:32:08Z (over 5 years ago)
Original score: 12