Showing different cultural viewpoints as not 100% correct

[limyaael]

Sorry for the very long delay. On the other hand, my written qualifying exams for my Ph.D. are done.

Comments

[m_a_foxfire]

Kinda reminds me of this one line on slave girls from DWJ's Tough Guide to Fantasyland. "After nobly turning down her offer of free, no-holds-barred sex, the tourist will then rescue her, have free, no-holds-barred sex with her, and leave her stranded miles outside her own country." Something like that, anyway.

[limyaael]

I think I remember that!

And yeah, the treatment of slaves in cases where the main character isn't a slave him/herself often goes like that.

[kutsuwamushi]

Hypocritical, deluded, and self-deceiving characters are glorious to work with.

But on the other hand, they're really hard!

I've read a lot of stories where the characters were hypocrites, but the author didn't seem to be aware of it. The character is Always Right, so if she beats a man to get information she needs to complete her mission, that's treated as practical and correct, even if she spends the rest of the story talking about justice and the rights of humans to live without violence. The conflict just isn't addressed in any way.

I always worry that I'll fall into this trap in my own writing. I don't think my problem is being unaware that the characters are hypocrites (I deliberately created many of them to be that way), but that it's hard to write. I can beat the readers over the head with it, or I can make it too subtle and easily missed.

[limyaael]

I know exactly what you mean. I'd say going for subtlety is preferable, but then, I tend to cheat:

-I use multiple viewpoint characters, so they can all comment on each other's hypocrisy.
-I have the character be hypocritical about something less devastating, too, and eventually notice it, so that the reader can get the idea the author notices her flaws.
-I have one character make a smug statement about X thing being true of a culture/person/species, and then in another chapter, write from the perspective of that culture/person/species to show X is definitely not true. Even if the character's not confronted with it, at least the reader knows.

It's a lot harder when you're working with a single viewpoint character, which is why my stories like that to be about much less morally objectionable (and complicated) people.

[kutsuwamushi]

Those are good suggestions. I don't like to work with multiple viewpoints because creating individual voices is one of my (many) weak points, but sometimes it really is called for.

I would rather err on the side of too subtle than too blatant, also. I figure that when I'm reading, I generally prefer being troubled than being preached at.

[limyaael]

It is. And I think that as long as the characters are clearly separated by scene or chapter breaks, it's easier to eventually wind up with individual voices. (I've relaxed a bit in my attitude to omniscient, but I don't know if I'd ever try writing it).

I just found out from the George Eliot biography I'm reading that, while she approved of didactic novels, she thought "the medium more important than the message," so the writer should subordinate his moral rather than ruin the story with it. This causes me to fangirl her harder than ever.

[flaky_artist]

I just watched North & South, which dealt with these issues beautifully.

Good stuff. I like #6--my characters are always making excuses for doing bad things.

[limyaael]

Thanks!

I'm assuming the film's based on Elizabeth Gaskell's book? What I liked about that was how both of the main characters changed, rather than the romance being based on one as a saint and one as a redeemed sinner.

[sabotabby]

Congratulations, and welcome back!

A related book recommendation: Carnival by Elizabeth Bear. It's a clash of two cultures. One is patriarchal, homophobic, imperialist, but extremely environmentally conscious; the other is matriarchal, isolationist, and brutally violent. While the reader's sympathy tends to float mostly to the latter, it's not without its own flaws and hypocrisies, and the three primary characters are all people who, for various reasons, don't really fit into the roles prescribed by their various societies. (And, naturally, there are large groups of dissenters on both sides.) It's terribly fun.

[limyaael]

Thanks!

I have that book, and plan to read it soon (it's on the backlog due to a lot of library books I really should read before the time comes to return them).

[cat_i_th_adage]

Hey, good to see you ranting again. They're always both thought-provoking and fun to read. Made my day.

[limyaael]

Thanks!