Desperation

Desperation = Interest

Not all protagonists are what you'd call “nice.”

Certainly many books have been written about characters who definitely delve into darker things than most of us do. Most thriller protagonists kill other people. One of the protagonists of David Baldacci's thriller Absolute Power is a thief. The protagonists of James Ellroy's L.A. Confidential are certainly far from good, honest cops. Yet these books have been read by millions.

So why follow these characters?

Surely most of us don't kill or steal or sell drugs or tamper with evidence. I mean, if they would do these things, should we even care about what happens to them?

Ah, but we do.

What does this say about us?

It says we are human. Most of us don't go as far as these characters do. However we all do things we should not in the best interest for our well-being. Our actions often lead to us finding ourselves in some terrible situations. So we empathize with these characters when they are...

Desperate.

Desperation leads to all sorts of reactions but there is ALWAYS a reaction. The characters have no choice but to do something rash in order to save themselves or others in their lives. And well, we all can relate, even if it's not on the same scale.

How many of us have had a friend or relative who was rather comfortable outside the law?

More of us have than willing to admit, I would guess.

Have we helped them out when we maybe should not have? Yes. We remember the times we had with them before they got us into this horrible mess. We have ties to them and so we rise up to help them as we believe they would do for us. And there's nothing wrong with where our hearts are at even if the friend/relative might lead us into some trouble.

In fiction, desperation causes characters to make tough choices. Make money an illegal way or let your family starve? Sacrifice yourself or your best friend? Get revenge even though it will cost you everything?

Yes.

This is the stuff that great plots are made of and it is also what reveals great characters to us. Without the three ghosts visiting him, Ebeneezer Scrooge would have remained the same old miser he is in the beginning. Without the horrible betrayal against Edmond Dantes, he would never have become the Count of Monte Cristo. If Burke Devore had not been put out of work, he would have not become the competition killing sociopath in The Ax.

All of these characters are placed in desperate situations. And they react in ways most of us would not. Most misers would write off the ghosts as just dreams or nightmares. Most people set up like Edmond would have accepted their fate and wasted away in prison. Most people put out of work deal with it and try to find another job without killing people in competition with them. But these three characters react in much more drastic ways.

If you corner any animal, the animal will fight you. There is no doubt about that. Maybe it will take abuse from an owner for a while, but keep going and it will attack and it will be savage. People are much the same way but there is one little difference.

Civilization.

We are very far removed from caveman times or the Vikings or even the American Wild West. No. Today most people are civilized to a point and even if they have a savagery inside them, it is usually buried deep or maybe to put it more accurately, it is very well hidden.

So most people will react if backed into a corner- eventually. However you really have to grind them up to do so these days. Most of us want to live happy lives with little conflict. I know I do. Confrontation is not my thing. I tend to walk away. I'm getting better at it since I have grown a little wiser to know that every argument won't end in deadly blows to the head. Many times, a stern stand-off ends in a hurry since one person is very willing to back off. And sometimes I can be the stern one which is something I never pictured myself being.

But still, I would have to be pushed pretty hard. I generally go with the flow. So I realize it is my job to put a character in a situation where he cannot run. Confrontation is the only choice. We have all read stories where the author seem to let their characters off the hook a bit early before we could see what the character was REALLY all about. And then there's been others where the author butchers his characters to the point where we turn away in horror.

Dang.

Don't be too nice but don't be that brutal. You must be a loner if this is how you treat people.

I think the best way is right in the middle where you push the character far enough to get out of them what the author is trying to reveal. And I believe desperation is the best way to accomplish that.

So think about it. Take some time to think about how you would react in these scenarios. I'm sure you will some interesting thoughts. Feel free to leave a comment with your answers!

How would you react if:

1. You are trapped in an elevator with your ex.
2. Your house burns down.
3. Your best friend enters your house with a gun and fires at you but misses.
4. You are told that you can keep your job if you sleep with your boss.
5. You find a barrel filled with millions of dollars in the woods and want to keep it but your friend does not.
6. You witness your spouse robbing a convenience store.
7. You break your leg and develop gang green. Cut if off and live or refuse and die in one piece?
8. You find your child killing a small innocent animal.
9. You are diagnosed with a terminal disease and given two months to live.

10)You see a ghost in your house. Do you tell?