So, these are for people to think about and try to put themselves into a situation as someone else. It’s fairly easy to decide on what we would do when a character runs into a problem. Yet, we don’t always think like they do, which is why some people get frustrated with fictional characters. We’ll see how this type of post goes for this month and hope for the best.
Scenario that some people may recognize
You are a young adventurer who has just discovered the love of their life. Unfortunately, you have been chosen to fight a great evil and your beloved has their own path. You wouldn’t want them to be pulled into mortal peril either, but your relationship just started and now you have to leave for a time. This is a minor issue once you run into a curious culture clash.
While you come from a culture where you date one person and eventually marry or break up, your soulmate comes from one of dating polygamy. To combat a wave of adultery and divorce, their culture allows for dating multiple partners. There are rules of etiquette where the primary lover must meet the others first, which can’t be followed due to the distance issue. Still, you agree since you don’t plan on having another lover and you don’t want to insult your beloved’s culture. After all, it’s normal to them even if it’s alien and weird to you.
Months pass and you arrive at a village where you are confronted by a pompous jerk from the same region as your beloved. They clearly wants to goad you into a fight. You have no interest since you could easily beat them, so it would be a waste of time. Then, this person declares that they slept with your beloved. They continue talking about it in the hopes of making you mad. You get a sense that your beloved’s father pushed the union, but they aren’t around to explain their side of the story. All you can do is listen to the grinning jerk go on about the experience.
So, what do you do here?
Legends of Windemere 
In this situation, I would end the conversation and move on since I have little interest in fighting the individual (though the temptation to do so would be great). But I would still be prepared to defend myself if the person decided to force my hand. I would of course win. Since I would feel the kneejerk reaction of hurt that the supposed love of my life chose this jerk (if that was indeed the case), I would then ask my love for confirmation or denial. Either way, I would probably be suspicious. So in a way, the jerk won that round, despite losing in battle.
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Here’s the thing with suspicion here. You agreed to the open relationship. So, it does beg the question on if you can be upset about the result. This is where the storyline that involved this caused some issues. People kept treating it like a closed relationship when the woman did something, but pushed for the guy to sleep around. It was really strange. It also showed how difficult it is for readers and authors to leave their reality behind.
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Well, that’s true. I was thinking in terms of characters not being perfect and still having emotions. Regardless of acceptance of a situation, you still might have a reation. I was not thinking in terms of the jerk being allowed to do something the woman could not, but in terms of personality. “You chose this jerk?”
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My first reaction is punch the jerk and forgive the beloved. But what if her relationship had been with a really nice guy? Maybe punch the father? 😉
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Would you become the bad guy for punching the jerk? It’s typically the one who succumbs to violence that gets in trouble. As for the nice guy, that would be part of the agreement. Punching the father for upholding a tradition you agreed to would reveal you weren’t truthful.
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I was in a punching mood, clearly.
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I would ask myself how does this confrontation move the story forward and help or hinder the character in their quest to fight the great evil. Is the person they are confronting part of the great evil that they are fighting?
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That is something an author should consider, but we’re saying that this is part of the story. At the very least, it’s character development because not every plot point has to be about the big evil. This is kind of what I was going to try to get at with these scenarios. Not to think of it in terms of story and the author, but as the character themselves. If we always distance ourselves from our characters as they move through their adventures, we risk minimizing their dimensions. At least this is what I believe.
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Would the character’s back story determine in large part how they would respond? I have read about authors who say their characters will not do what they think they should do sometimes. As long as you don’t get to the point of the episode of the Twilight Zone titled “A World Of His Own”🙂 .
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That and personality, which I tried to give some parts of. Basically, the character loves their girl/boyfriend and agreed to their cultural tradition of an open relationship prior to marriage. Now they’re faced with an antagonistic jerk that supposedly hooked up with their other half. What do they do?
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Sorry to keep replying in questions. Is the character confrontational or passive aggressive, reserved or boisterous? Have they encountered situations like this in their past and how did deal with those situations? Is there something going on that could cause them to behave out of character that could be triggered by the jerk? Hope these questions help.
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Not really sure what you’re getting at any more. The scenario is for people to put themselves in the hero’s role and think about what they would do. If I give too much information, I’m basically forcing you to pick a specific answer instead of seeing what people will say. Much of this is connected to me wondering if readers and authors have trouble putting themselves in the shoes of characters that aren’t identical to them.
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Ah, I think I understand the assignment now. I was always a little slow in school.
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Same here.
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This is fiction. I agreed to this, but did not agree to being goaded and pushed around. I would politely withdraw. If the jerk kept pushing, I would make sure plenty of people saw me trying to withdraw before utterly destroying him.
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That makes sense for a hero. Give multiple chances for him to pull back.
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Walk away. The jerk is clearly wanting a fight. Don’t give him what he wants.
As soon as possible , speak to the love interest to hear her side of the story.
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Good idea. Though, what if she says she did sleep with the jerk and upheld her cultural tradition? Maybe he wasn’t a jerk to her at the time.
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Well, the jerk wouldn’t be around by then, I presume. Maybe she didn’t see him as a jerk. Men can be different when with a woman.
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Women can be different with men too. I think the concept of subtle manipulation gets ignored by authors and audiences at times. It has to be obvious.
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Cast a spell of silence on them.
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That could work. Be awkward if they keep going too.
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