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Good and Evil
mood: 
curious
curiousI can think of at least 2 ways to view good and evil in story-telling. There's the stark, good-vs.-evil method, where one character (or group) represents "good," and the good guys fight the bad guys. Usually the good guys win, but occasionally a bad guy will reform, or will survive in exile to imply that the whole fight will eventually have to occur all over again, possibly in a sequel.
I tend not to prefer this model myself, since I don't actually believe that good is embodied totally in some people and evil in others. I think we all have both in ourselves. But this can make for a very exciting and absorbing kind of story, and people can root for one side with a clear conscience.
Questions to consider if you tell this kind of story:
Why are my bad guys so bad? Were they good once, but were hurt somehow? Can they become good again, or are they past hope? What are their redeeming qualities? What do the bad guys want?
Do my good guys have any flaws--if so, what?
Are my good guys more sympathetic than my bad guys? If not, what can I do to change this?
Will any of my good guys turn out to be secretly bad, or vice versa? Will anyone switch sides--if so, how and why?
Who's going to win? Will it be a "final" ending? Can good ever "finally" vanquish evil?
The other kind of story is when every character has the potential to do good as well as evil. In fact, the dividing line between the two may not even be sharp. For example, a character's martyrdom may really rise from a desire for attention. A seemingly harmful act may prove to have a secret greater good behind it.
Questions to consider if you tell this kind of story:
Am I being too ambiguous or wishy-washy? What are the thematic statements I'm making?
Is my melding of good and evil impulses within each character natural, or does it ever come off as too stark, unbelievable? Are characters flipping back and forth without apparent motivations?
Are there places where readers can sympathize with the characters? Do I want to engender reader sympathy--if so, with whom?
Do I have any characters who are one-dimensional where I'm going for the 3D effect?
Which school of the good/evil dynamic do you prefer? Do you think your treatment of characters reflects your beliefs about real people? And if you tend to write one style, have you ever tried to write the other?
(Anonymous)
Thank you!
I've heard several writing teachers say that when you get stuck, ask what the characters want (goals). And at a writers' conference last summer, I concluded from one of the discussions that if a character seems boring, s/he may not have enough (or any) weaknesses.
I've just written my first novel and critiquers have all had one complaint. Everyone is too nice. Even the bad guys. Now, mind you, that didn't surprise me. I like nice people. I'm not a "rough and tough" kind of girl. And my novel is based on a true historical event and most of my characters were real people. Real "nice" people, for the most part.
But as you said, no one is good "all the time." So in revisions, I've made a serious effort to bring out some of the flaws in the good people, and watch them have to deal with the consequences of those flaws. Poor decisions. Moments of selfishness. Greed. Impatience. You know, normal things.
And I went ahead and made the book longer by upping the action with the bad guys.
One bad guy is actually "bad." He's not someone I would like at all and he causes all kinds of trouble. I don't know if he comes across as evil, but he doesn't have any redeeming qualities. Oh okay, he doesn't cheat on his wife. I bet he's hit her, though.
Another bad guy is a decent person who just ran across something he couldn't handle mentally. He cracks and tries to kill someone. He almost succeeds but the payback on this is more heartbreaking than anything else. He could have had a good, useful life. Instead, he spends it in a mental institution and never quite regains his sanity.
I guess this book falls into your second category and there is a real danger to be too ambiguous. And most definitely, my writing reflects my own feelings about people. I may learn to get away from that with more writing experience, but for now, I'm writing what feels right, to me.
I'm not wild about the other type of story, I guess because there is so much of it. It can be boring to read a story if everything is black and white. People aren't like that and the choices are hardly ever easy.
I try to remember that people usually think of themselves as good guys. Even when they know they're doing something others might have a problem with, they rationalize it somehow. So even if we don't agree with our characters' rationalizations, we should at least know what they are.
And as far as "saints" go--it is very hard to do the right thing in this world. People who do the right thing are often severely punished for it. So why wouldn't they waver, hesitate, and backslide?
I like both kinds of stories the good-guy vs. evil-guy and the story where each believes they are doing what's necessary.
Does a character exist in a novel to portray an ideal? Or is the character there simply for plot? Or both?
In my writings I always have at least one antagonist as a major POV character. I want to portray his/her struggle just as much as the protagonist. I think it makes for a better story. It's rare when a faceless bad-guy works. Tolkien did it quite masterfully in my opinion. Who else could have a ring simply make one disappear and yet at the same time get across the point that -- in the hands of Sauron -- it held the power to destroy or enslave everyone and everything.
Which leads me to Boromir, who is clearly a good man but who's desire to save Minas Tirith is so great he loses himself and succumbs to the ring out of fear and weakness.
While the plot of LOTR called for Boromir's death, in a different story Borimir could easily have been the main POV character, and his journy towards either redemption or depair a compelling story.
I guess in the end, since I like to work with an ensemble cast of characters in my stories I like to mix in both character types. I do agree that those that are more idealistic good-guys will tend to suffer more than some of those who have greater flaws.