In The Paradigm Culture, my main character, Tom (working name), has a hatred of injustice and believes the judicial system needs beefing up - a feeling close to my heart.
Now, as a writer, it would be very easy to get into preaching mode and, through Tom, bring out all my pet hates and frustrations with the justice system as if they were his. Of course, Tom can have feelings like mine, but they would need to be as a result of his upbringing - his insecurities - his need for stability and fair play - not mine. If I created a character purely as a vehicle to promulgate my own views then the reader would very quickly see through him and realise what was going on.
A character's actions and thinking are motivated by many elements - fear, love, justice, money, etc. Tom's motivation centres on rules. He feels comfortable with rules - society needs rules - and those who break the rules have to be dealt with. For Tom, failure to deal with them brings chaos.
So imagine, when Tom is granted the power to bring to justice these people who think they are outside the law, what his reaction will be. What would yours be? What would you do if you had the power to invade minds?
No comments:
Post a Comment