Why do we always write the perpetrator?

[Feo Takahari]

Spun off from the "sensitive topics" thread because it would be a massive derail.

I've seen a lot of threads on Mythic Scribes along the lines of "My POV character is a rapist. How do I make him sympathetic?" or "My POV character is a cannibal. How do I make him sympathetic?" Feel free to correct me if I've missed something, but I'm the only poster I can think of who's discussed writing the POV of a rape survivor. All I want to ask is, what's with all the POVs of perpetrators of crimes various and sundry? Why so little discussion of survivors and victims?

 

[X Equestris]

I don't know. Perhaps it's part of the drive to be dark, and some people think that's the way to do it. I personally think that's laying it on way too thick. One would think that could be better accomplished by taking a victim or survivor's point of view.

 

[T.Allen.Smith]

Laying it on too thick is certainly one reason.

Another, I think, rests with why writers (especially beginning writers) prefer to write about their villains.

Antagonists are the agents of change. Protagonists react. Then, after some time typically, that reaction moves to action. But antagonists are always active, and that is more engaging...at least until you learn more about your characters, story, & craft.

 

[Nimue]

The main character I'm writing with now is a victim of marital rape and abuse as part of her background, and during the course of the story there is one (non-violent, non-graphic) rape scene. I have drawn on some of my own, less severe, experiences, and heard and read a lot of stories from rape survivors, but it's still been really hard for me to write. I'm not sure how people write multiple heavy issues in one story, much less go into the POV of the perpetrator. I really need a baseline of "decent human being" when I'm writing a protagonist POV.

I was considering posting that scene because it is difficult for me to read objectively, and it isn't graphic, but I doubt that would be a good idea... Unfortunately, I am struggling with making the assailant--to borrow a phrase from Mythopoet, not sympathetic but understandable. He didn't see it as rape at the time, but goes through a process of realization and repentance. He's not a protagonist or POV, but an important character to the plot, and he stays in the story. Yeah, I don't think I'll be posting that here. It's an issue that I need to work out for myself, and with people that I know well.

 

[Devora]

I think people should stop making the character sympathetic and instead focus on having the persons actions keep the reader's interest

 

[Penpilot]

Feo, excellent question.

I think part of it is it's easier for a writer to imagine doing bad things. It's the low hanging fruit. Some may be mistaking darkness for depth, like Bob did a despicable thing in the past so now he has depth, which isn't true.

It's much harder to imagine being the victim and portraying their emotions truthfully.

IMHO, in order to deal with a heavy subjects and despicable acts seriously, you have to present all sides to it, perpetrator and victim. To do any less I think wouldn't be honest to the subject, because it's just half of an argument.

 

[ascanius]

Spun off from the "sensitive topics" thread because it would be a massive derail.

I've seen a lot of threads on Mythic Scribes along the lines of "My POV character is a rapist. How do I make him sympathetic?" or "My POV character is a cannibal. How do I make him sympathetic?" Feel free to correct me if I've missed something, but I'm the only poster I can think of who's discussed writing the POV of a rape survivor. All I want to ask is, what's with all the POVs of perpetrators of crimes various and sundry? Why so little discussion of survivors and victims?

Your not the only one, I posted my questions long before you got here though. I even freaked out at for a bit.....

In all honesty I think the real reason aside from the normal pitfalls, of sex with their one true leading to a full recovery and all the other drivil. Is no one talks about it, it still taboo, its still the way it was centries ago, and I don't mean rape but the victim. the victim can be male or female doesn't matter, there is a sense of shame, guilt etc. that is mirrored by other people.

 

[Amanita]

Well, due to the current popularity of works like Game of Thrones many fantasy writers seem to believe that darkness and “grey” characters are necessary for a good and “realistic” fantasy story nowadays.
I might be wrong but I’m also getting the impression that there is a significant number of (probably mainly young, male) people extremely intrigued by idea of the darkest, most dangerous/the most bloody/the most violent/the most deadly thing. And of course, they want to identify with the active part, not the victim. That’s why splatter movies or computer games where the players act as killers are so popular. There even have to be people who want to walk around with shirts showing the structures of sarin or mustard gas, or those wouldn’t be available online.
(I'm not completely free of this myself, starting with wanting the most dangerous toy dinosaur as a child. )
For some, there’s also an element of provocation involved and by mentioning certain topics, there’s a guarantee of success in this area. There are few things in modern western society which still shock people but making crude remarks about sensitive issues works rather well.
I’m quite certain some of the comments which have caused so much controversy have been in this vain and I agree that it’s not a good basis for a good book and encouraging those people to think again is a good idea.

Since you were talking about "we". My stories so far haven’t featured rape beyond the background of some non-view-point characters but I did write a Harry Potter-fanfic dealing with the aftermath of torture from the victims’ point of view as well as the perpetrator’s. The crime itself has existed in the actual book but I did plenty of research on the recovery. Why did I feature the perpetrator’s point of view? I think it’s both interesting and worthwhile to explore how an ordinary person can fall for an evil ideology, stop feeling empathy for certain groups of people and everything that follows. This is a real problem with both racism and islamist terrorism in today’s Germany and of course an issue of historical interest for me as well.
I was more comfortable doing this in a situation where neither the ideology nor the means of torture and murder exist in the real world. This is one of the many opportunities fantasy offers to us, we can move one step away from the hot issues of our day and still deal with the processes underneath. The current desire to limit magic or cut it out completely and focus on mirroring real historical periods leads us away from this though, a development I’m not too happy about.

 

[Noma Galway]

I feel as though a lot of people do write perpetrators almost because it is easier. I'm not saying that it is necessarily easy to write the perspective of a torturer or otherwise, but it can be easier than writing the victim's perspective. I do agree with Amanita fairly strongly about darker characters and plotlines seeming to be the way to go with fantasy as well. Many of the popular books on the market now do deal with the darker aspects of human nature.

For my own part...I haven't written much from a perpetrator's perspective, at least not on the topic of sexual assault or torture. Murder, yes, quite often, but my characters nearly always feel justified in their killing someone or feel regret later. In my current WIP, he feels both at different times. I do have one of my POV characters as a victim of childhood sexual abuse, which continued into the beginning of my story. I actually prefer to write his point of view than the perpetrator's, and this is mostly because of the character himself. The abuse he suffered shapes him a good deal throughout the story, and I find that writing this perspective brings a lot of psychological exploration to the table. However, it is very difficult to write, and I think that's why you won't find a lot of survivor/victim points of view. Just my two cents, though.

 

[AkamaruGames]

I think it is just a trend thing. For years, heroes were shiny and white and all that was good because people wanted to believe there was someone out there looking to spread justice. This is why you had heros like Dudley Doright or Superman. Good and bad were clearly defined and that is how people liked it. Then more recently, people started to enjoy things a bit more "gritty and realistic" and so the protagonists have slowly grown more flawed and dark. Look at the difference between Christopher Reeves Superman, who is sort of comically good, compared to the more modern depictions of the same character, which are all far more dark and flawed. This trend has become popular in Hollywood and all other media, which is why a lot of people tend to make dark characters now. I believe that eventually there will be a tipping point where dark characters become played out and cliche and it starts to reverse.

As for specifically why people don't write about rape victims is because victims don't usually make for great agents of change. It might be a very emotional and powerful piece, but it would not be one that the writer or reader would want to fantasize about becoming. And in the end, isn't that what fantasy is about? Fantasizing about a character that has the traits that you lack, but wish you had? I imagine it would be extremely hard to make a character who is a rape victim that is relatable and an active agent of change without sweeping the trauma of the act under the rug and doing it a disservice in the process.

 

[Nihilium 7th]

Why can't we have both? In my current wip I'm developing a character who was captured by raiders who attacked his town. The exact atrocities that he went through aren't fully specified (In a way allowing the reader to speculate and decide) and the fact that he's pushed certain memories into the crevices of his psyche doesn't make him the most accurate of narrators. After he escapes he goes through life trying to adjust "pitifully." he eventually descends into the darkest parts of his psyche and will eventually become the antagonist/antihero of the book juxtaposing the protagonist/anti-villain of the story who I based (slightly) on Siddhartha/Buddha.
I think having a character who has gone through being perfect, flawed, victimized and eventually the villain is the closest thing to a "real" character; problem is that it isn't easy to do. Not many people want a character who lies on any extreme or one that is simply "morally grey".
Personally i find the "Victim who overcomes" story predictable. I also find that the "Isn't this guy terrible? Bet you I can make him likeable" story cliche. But that's just my opinion.

 

[Feo Takahari]

As for specifically why people don't write about rape victims is because victims don't usually make for great agents of change. It might be a very emotional and powerful piece, but it would not be one that the writer or reader would want to fantasize about becoming. And in the end, isn't that what fantasy is about? Fantasizing about a character that has the traits that you lack, but wish you had? I imagine it would be extremely hard to make a character who is a rape victim that is relatable and an active agent of change without sweeping the trauma of the act under the rug and doing it a disservice in the process.

I think you've just hit on the reason for the "rape victim kills rapist" trope. It's a quick way to establish that the victim is still capable of action. Goblins: Life Through Their Eyes is a relatively respectful example, showing that the victim still has issues and isn't magically cured.

@Nihilium: I find this alarming in the context of your statements indicating that the stuff you write is inspired by personal experience. But I recommend the movie Felt.

 

[Garren Jacobsen]

To answer the original question I will echo what others have said, it's because people want to be gritty and realistic. Or, to use a gaming term, they want to be mature. Of course, I believe, that these methods of being "mature" are just facades for actual maturity. Maturity doesn't come from horrific acts but from depth of understanding and character. In many ways, Metroid is a more mature game than Gears of War. Metroid is more introspective, and asks the player to think. Gears is more about rooty-tooty-point-and-shooty. But that is a topic for another day.

As for taking a victims POV this is what we should be doing, IMO, utilizing the victim to become an agent of change. If I were to write a rape victim they would become an agent for change for both themselves and the situation. But, I wouldn't allow the character to get magically fixed. There'd still be loose ends and still be problems.

For example, my father was a police officer. He worked in the special victims unit and investigated cases like Ted Bundy and Arthur Gary Bishop. He said that for years he had nightmares about this and other cases he dealt with. This coming from a man that dealt with this crap every day for years from a fairly distanced perspective. Imagine being a victim in this situation. It wouldn't leave you...ever. I think there is far more potential with these struggles than with the struggles of the perpetrator.

 

[X Equestris]

I think people trying to have perpetrators as sympathetic characters is a lot less common in actual published works than it is...elsewhere. And from what I've seen, it is also more common to have the victim of such crimes or attempted crimes be a viewpoint character in published works than it is elsewhere.

 

[Chessie]

I don't know. Perhaps it's part of the drive to be dark, and some people think that's the way to do it. I personally think that's laying it on way too thick. One would think that could be better accomplished by taking a victim or survivor's point of view.

I agree with this entirely. My guess is that it's just to stay with the current "grim" fiction times of writing these dark acts from the perpetrator's perspective. I know a lot of folks here love ASOIAF, me...not so much. But I will say that this series (from the little I've read and heard about it) seems to do a fair job of turning someone around who used to be a real prick. Martin has his own reasons for doing this and I think many writers try to copy him & his style, but just aren't at his level of expertise to make it flavorful like he does. Just my 2 cents.

 

[WooHooMan]

I can't really contribute a whole lot to this discussion since I tend to write all my characters, protagonists and antagonists, as mostly good people. For me, hero vs. hero is far more interesting a conflict than hero-villain, villain-villain, antihero-villain or whatever other combinations there are.
When I do write genuinely amoral main characters, it's almost always for the sake of having redemption stories. Because I really like redemption stories. I tend to find those extremely satisfying.

I think the trend of having antiheroes at least partially comes from writers fearing the dreaded Mary Sue (as in "flawless yet unrelatable hero", I know there are other definitions). So, writers go to the other end of the spectrum: they don't want a character who is "too good" so they go for "as bad as possible".
That's my guess. The other possibilities suggested in this thread are good theories too.

 

[Nihilium 7th]

I think you've just hit on the reason for the "rape victim kills rapist" trope. It's a quick way to establish that the victim is still capable of action. Goblins: Life Through Their Eyes is a relatively respectful example, showing that the victim still has issues and isn't magically cured.

@Nihilium: I find this alarming in the context of your statements indicating that the stuff you write is inspired by personal experience. But I recommend the movie Felt.

I'm not sure if I fully understand what you're saying but I'm going to try and explain what I'm saying better.
Personally I'm tired of the victim turns hero or victim turns villain tropes. I'm more of a fan of characters who have gone through trauma and are affected by it in a more complicated way than "No one else will go through this" or "Feel my vengeance world!".

Right now there is a whole antihero/antivillain trend going on that nearing it's peak in terms of quality and ingenuity (in my opinion). Writers also seem to have plunged into a sea of darkness and are still descending with no bottom in sight. This combination has created a plethora of dark, angst filled antiheros with antagonists that are so relatable that you want them to win. What worries me is the number of low quality stories being created compared to high quality stories.

If that post seemed too metaphorical I apologize. Just finished a writing marathon.