Help deciding a minor story/plot detail?

[Will]

Hey. Could do with some help deciding one of the specifics for my current project.

A minor rebellion is getting out of hand, threatening more civil unrest. A young man lives with his family, consisting of his mother, father and younger sister. The family run a business (I am thinking something to do with the manufacturing of musical instruments). Business is bad, as a result of the rebellion, people being scared, trade being scarce, whatever. The family are on the verge of being evicted from their home, losing the store, etc. Now...

A.) The young man is now drafted into the royalist army, with no choice but to go. As a result, this will put even more strain upon the family business because the young man carried most of the load in regards to labour, driving the workforce, being his fathers protege and apparent heir, etc. The rest of the family face an uncertain future, with the young man vowing to send home whatever pay he receives in order to help out.

B.) The young man, motivated by a generous "signing up" fee, and a decent/steady salary, decides to join the royalist army in order to help his family financially. His family are sad to see him go, but the only other option would be to stay trying to help his father's business, with an uncertain future and the strong possibility of being forced into poverty. Still, his contribution will be sorely missed at home.

Which of those two should I go with? I began with option A, then came up with option B which may fit better putting my character over, but then I am still unsure. Option A has its good points, but I'm slightly leaning to B. Any help?

[SlimShady]

Depends on what kind of character you want really. If you want a good/looking to help character than you could go with option B to show that he is willing to do anything to help his family, Option B could really develop his character in a 'good' route.

I could see option A sending him down a darker road. Angry and resentful towards the government. Mad, because he's basically being forced to give up his life to go to the army. Overall this would probably make him a more angry character.

Either one would work.

[Benjamin Clayborne]

I voted for B. He makes a hard choice. If he gets drafted, then whether or not it's helping his family is irrelevant to whether or not he's an interesting character.

[T.Allen.Smith]

I like B because it's a choice made out of desperation and the willingness to sacrifice his own safety for his family's well being.

It's also a choice the he made freely which he may come to regret for a variety of reasons. His family could also be against his decision.

Choice A is the weaker of the 2 in my opinion strictly because the choice is taken out of the character's hands, limiting his responsibility in whatever consequences lie ahead.

[BeigePalladin]

I'd say right now it depends on the character making the choice; the second one does have some good connotations, but can also be looked at as a sign of recklesness and - in some ways - selfishness, as he left his family in a time when they're incredibally busy and need help for the slightest trinket of better pay and an escape - this can of course be escaped when written, but it will remain as a possible undercurrent

A helps avoid that, but it also takes some motivation away from the character - he didn't make the choice, but had it made

so I'm leaning towards B, but be careful

[Bear]

I like choice A. I think you can have better character development with choice A but that's just me.