Ritual Cannibalism and Reader Sympathy

[Tom]

Yeah, so as the title suggests, I have a culture that practices ritual cannibalism. Understand that they're not painted to be an evil culture--just as very different in both morality and ideology from my MC's culture.

There are two main cannibalistic rituals this culture, the Barlanders, practices.

First, after a battle, they offer up the blood of their slain enemies to their gods, then drink a portion of it from a sacred vessel at the victory feast. This is the way they honor their enemies. It's kind of a hard concept to explain--they believe that since blood is the source of life, it's also the source of the soul. Mingling one's blood with another's is said to create a powerful bond that strengthens the soul. By drinking their enemies' blood, they're basically making them "blood-brothers", to honor their courage in battle.

Second, when a Barlander dies, their ashes are collected after they’re cremated, and their relatives sprinkle some of it on their food and eat it. Again, this ties into the idea of the soul. The Barlanders believe that the soul lingers on earth about two weeks after death. By eating the ashes, they keep part of the soul on earth, so that when it departs for the gods' city it will still remember those it's left behind.

What I'm worried about is how readers will react to ritual cannibalism, even if it isn't ill-intentioned. My thinking style when worldbuilding is kind of anthropological, and I think more in terms of gray morality than black-and-white. I tend to impart that relative morality upon my worlds and peoples, but not everyone will see it the same way.

What about you guys? Do you see ritual cannibalism as problematic morally? How would you present this aspect of a culture in a way that would keep readers from seeing it as bad?

 

[WooHooMan]

I had a character whose tribe practiced ritualistic cannibalism.
First and foremost, think of the character first and their cultural identity second. I introduced the tribe, then the character, then - after the reader got a chance to know the character - I revealed that she belonged to the tribe.
Second, the characters will need to make a strong argument in favor of this practice. In the story, the character was able to convince a friend of her's that even though cannibalism is wrong 99% of the time, it was okay in her tribe's case.
Even if the reader doesn't agree with it (and the won't), they'll at least need to be able to see where the character is coming from.
Do those two things and I think you'll be okay.

To elaborate on my take: there was no spiritual element to my fictional tribe's cannibalism. It was entirely a moral thing. They believe that a persons greatest purpose was to serve their family and - because of the harsh conditions of their homeland - there were a lot of Donner party scenarios. To them, it's a very noble sacrifice. People of the tribe would volunteer ahead of time to be sacrificed and eaten while eating someone who didn't volunteer was very, very bad.
In the story, cannibalism is presented as (almost) objectively wrong and eventually the character renounces this practice.

The tribe's "tribe first" worldview doesn't just include ritualistic cannibalism. It also includes common ownership of property, equal rights among genders, anti-materialism, strong family values and ancestor worship. The cannibalism thing is almost a "take the bad with the good" thing.
You don't want your tribe to be "the cannibals". They need other traits.

 

[Tom]

You don't want your tribe to be "the cannibals". They need other traits.

Exactly. That's how I approached it. The Barlanders' most defining trait is not their cannibalism; in fact, that's more of a footnote in my development of their culture. They're a proud, Viking-like culture known for their fearlessness, seafaring genius, amazing technical knowledge of magic and how it works, and...also their ruthless conquering of any land within sailing distance. That's another moral hitch.

 

[The_Murky_Night]

If you spend quite a bit of time describing what this cannibalism means to the main character(s), both in terms of their cultural identity and personal connection to the deceased, rather than just explaining it in exposition, I think, will do a good job at getting the reader to understand the practice.

 

[Russ]

I think it can be done effectively, and I would not treat it as an automatic turn off.

It really depends on how you write it. If you write it with vivid descriptions of gore, beating hearts and focus on the physical aspects of the cannibalism, it will be more distancing.

If you write it focussing on the spiritual/symbolic side and leaving the gory details out or in the background, it will have a totally different impact.

 

[X Equestris]

I think what you've got is solid enough that the reader's sympathy won't be lost. They're certainly more sympathetic than a group that kills people just to eat them, for example.

 

[evolution_rex]

If part of your story's theme is about the thin lines of morality, then I'd say go for it. It's a very bold move and could end up working very well. Personally, I would go all out at the beginning of the story, showing the main character drink the blood of an enemy and describe the scene with brute honesty. Makes the reader dislike the character at first, but then you turn around and start making the character sympathetic, and it'll confuse the reader, but in a very good way.

 

[valiant12]

Second, when a Barlander dies, their ashes are collected after they’re cremated, and their relatives sprinkle some of it on their food and eat it. Again, this ties into the idea of the soul. The Barlanders believe that the soul lingers on earth about two weeks after death. By eating the ashes, they keep part of the soul on earth, so that when it departs for the gods' city it will still remember those it's left behind.

That's sound pretty gross, however as a reader i won't have anything against the culture just for their funeral tradition.

 

[Tom]

That's sound pretty gross, however as a reader i won't have anything against the culture just for their funeral tradition.

Actually, it's not really that gross. When the body is burned, all the tissues return to carbon in the form of ash. It's certainly less gross than eating a corpse. XD

 

[Russ]

I think it is more like "ashes would taste gross" human or not!

 

[Tom]

Good point!

 

[valiant12]

Actually, it's not really that gross. When the body is burned, all the tissues return to carbon in the form of ash. It's certainly less gross than eating a corpse. XD

Eating the ashes of a dead relative is weird, regardless how it taste.

 

[Feo Takahari]

Digger spent a lot of time building up the protagonist's gradual acceptance that eating the dead is just a different cultural tradition and not really evil. Eventually, I just wanted to grab her by the shoulders and shake her. You don't necessarily have to push and push and push, especially if your protagonists aren't really doing anything wrong.

(Then again, I don't really distinguish between eating people and eating animals. Either way, you're consuming a living, thinking thing that probably didn't want to die.)