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rainwatersparkI was thinking about this, since this is something that I've seen a lot of lately.
In Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas, we're introduced to our purportedly badass female assassin protagonist...after she's been enslaved for a year in the harshest of conditions and now bears scars.
In Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo, we're introduced to our "strong" heroine first by listening to other people bash her, and then by seeing her nearly knocked to the ground.
The question I had was, why do people feel the need to introduce their characters being victimized?
I suppose on one hand, it might be a cheap shortcut to try to build instant sympathy with the reader for the protagonist...but sympathy only goes so far. To a certain extent, introducing your character with an instance of suffering may actually undermine sympathy, because nobody wants to read about wimps.
But I'm starting to wonder if there's also a gender component in here.
In The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern, Celia is "taught" how to heal by...having her fingers slashed open by a psychotic father. Meanwhile, her male counterpart, Marco, is only forced to study all day and not interact with people.
I also thought about the controversy over the recent Tomb Raider video game reboot, which heavily featured Lara Croft being beat up, injured, almost killed, and traumatized. Someone (the game director? I forget exactly who) said the purpose was to make the player root for Lara as she's being so beaten up, while people have pointed out that the reverse almost never happens for male characters. (One person commented that Naughty Dog didn't justify Nathan Drake's ordeals by saying, "We're really trying to beat the s*** out of Drake, really make you feel for him.")
So what is it about female characters that makes people want to portray them in positions of weakness so often?
Unfortunately, I don't have an answer.
In Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas, we're introduced to our purportedly badass female assassin protagonist...after she's been enslaved for a year in the harshest of conditions and now bears scars.
In Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo, we're introduced to our "strong" heroine first by listening to other people bash her, and then by seeing her nearly knocked to the ground.
The question I had was, why do people feel the need to introduce their characters being victimized?
I suppose on one hand, it might be a cheap shortcut to try to build instant sympathy with the reader for the protagonist...but sympathy only goes so far. To a certain extent, introducing your character with an instance of suffering may actually undermine sympathy, because nobody wants to read about wimps.
But I'm starting to wonder if there's also a gender component in here.
In The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern, Celia is "taught" how to heal by...having her fingers slashed open by a psychotic father. Meanwhile, her male counterpart, Marco, is only forced to study all day and not interact with people.
I also thought about the controversy over the recent Tomb Raider video game reboot, which heavily featured Lara Croft being beat up, injured, almost killed, and traumatized. Someone (the game director? I forget exactly who) said the purpose was to make the player root for Lara as she's being so beaten up, while people have pointed out that the reverse almost never happens for male characters. (One person commented that Naughty Dog didn't justify Nathan Drake's ordeals by saying, "We're really trying to beat the s*** out of Drake, really make you feel for him.")
So what is it about female characters that makes people want to portray them in positions of weakness so often?
Unfortunately, I don't have an answer.
