Thread: Could you empathize with this character?

I am writing a novel right now in which the main character inadvertently causes the death of another character. However, the death is caused by a deliberate action of the MC. After the death of the secondary character, the MC is really torn up about it but to his amazement is eventually able to go on with his life and, over time the feelings of guilt and depression start to wane. (Although they never go away.) So he has this horrible secret that he basically killed someone, and although he struggles with it daily, he manages to better his lot in life over time.

What I am curious about is whether or not you, as a reader, could feel sympathetic or emphasize with this MC.

For some reason it feels as though I am asking too much of the reader to have them feel that way about this MC. If I imagine someone in real life who committed an act like the one he did, my "gut" response is that he should own up to his crime, and I don't feel as though I would accept his actions in any capacity, even if he was an otherwise wholly likable guy. While the MC did not just coldly murder the other character in cold blood, he did act in a totally reckless and irresponsible manner that directly led to the other character's death.

I may not be giving enough context to go on to form an opinion. But I am just curious about this from other people's points of view, because the way I am writing the MC, I am presenting him as someone that the reader will ideally like. He is never flippant or callous about what he's done, but the fact remains that he essentially killed someone and I am asking my readers to basically forgive that transgression, root for his success and feel sorrow when bad things befall him.

I could empathise with the MC only if I got to know them first and liked thier character initially. If I don't like the guy, I'm not going to like anything he does. On the other hand, if I love the guy, I'm more willing to forgive and see past his shortcomings.
Good luck with the novel

I am writing a novel right now in which the main character inadvertently causes the death of another character. However, the death iscaused by a deliberate action of the MC.

Your use of the term inadvertently suggests the death is an accident, and by nature can be forgiven. The deliberate action might be the hurdle that stands between forgiveness and otherwise. A deliberate action, for example might be knowingly driving a car whilst drunk, and killing your passenger or a pedestrian. Alternatively, it might be letting off a firework in a controlled environment and in a responsible manner, though the whole thing goes wrong and leads to the death of a friend. Two deaths, two deliberate actions, two wholly contrasting scenarios, and two outcomes in terms of forgiveness, in my opinion.

I think it's difficult to answer such a question. I also think it is possible for a clever writer to manipulate the way the reader feels, though maybe I'm not the best person to ask how to do that.

You can make us care if you write it well.

Hmm.. That all depends on how gradual you make his shift from "Horrible" to "redeemed", I feel like it would work much better if it was a very gradual change, instead of instant regret and soforth.

However, that's if it's very deliberate. If it's accidental.. It's not going to be too great of a challenge. It all depends on how much of a "good guy" you make the main character.

I would think virtually everyone has done stuff in the past they feel guilty about so should be capable of feeling empathy with the character you describe. However, the weight of empathy will shift with how the character acts/responds as the novel unfolds. The storyline may beg for some form of reconciliation with that guilt. For example, in the movie Ghandi a Hindu character, riddled with guilt because he killed a Muslim out of prejudice comes before Ghandi. Ghandi tells him he must raise that Muslim's orphaned son as his own- but raise him as a Muslim with all the proper schooling and observances. I would certainly root for someone who was willing to expatiate his guilt in such a way.

cheers
J.R.

Originally Posted by J.R. MacLean

I would think virtually everyone has done stuff in the past they feel guilty about so should be capable of feeling empathy with the character you describe. J.R.

I don't think as many people have done something so permanent as to end someone's life. If you steal something, you can return it. You can't bring back the dead.

Still, to the OP, it's possible, but it's going to require some serious soul searching and a giant social growth spike by the MC. This is not something that can be dismissed with a shrug and "oh well."

In my opinion I think it would depend on the details surrounding the death and what the main character actually did to cause the other character's death, and why he committed that action to begin with. The way any reader feels in dependent on the details of the story and the history of the reader and his or her past experiences. Some people are more likely to empathize with a murderer in any circumstance, but most people judge actions like this based on context, motive, and how the "murderer" feels after it happens. For my personal opinion I would need more details.

Thanks for the replies.

To clarify the situation a bit, I will just go ahead and briefly explain what the MC actually does.

The MC despises another student, a jock-type guy because of something the jock did to one of the MC's friends. So one day after school the MC follows the jock into the woods where the jock is walking home. The MC does not know what exactly he is going to do when he confronts the jock... he thinks maybe fight him. But in a moment of anger the MC picks up a small rock and throws it at the jock. The jock has a condition (which I was inquiring about in the research section of this forum) in which he suffers from vertigo. So while the rock itself is not enough to cause death, the jock loses his balance and falls to his death down an embankment onto some train tracks below. The MC is horrified at what's happened, and he goes down to check the scene out. In a moment of weakness, he leaves the body in the woods and goes home. He is despondent and thinking that he is going to kill himself. He attempts to induce alcohol poisoning by raiding his dad's liquor stash but passes out before he can do fatal damage.

Later, he wakes (with a horrible hangover and in a good deal of trouble with his parents) and finds out that it is in the local news that the jock is dead. So basically through a chain of events that the MC does not have control over, and a good deal of luck, he is NOT implicated in the event. So the rest of the story is about the MC dealing with this horrible secret. He wonders if he can carry it with him for the rest of his life... it seems to taint everything and everyone in his life, every facet and relationship in his existence.

By student do you mean high school students? I feel obligated to say this, but I hope the secondary character is somehow defined as more than a "jock." General stereotypes don't make the best characters, and the story will have more depth and invoke stronger emotions if the "jock" is three-dimensional. For depth of character though, I have to recommend that he not be a complete stereotype made out to look bad just for the sake of making it easier to relate to the 'MC.'

Aside from that though, the age of the main character should have an impact on if he should or should not be forgiven. Everyone does stupid things when they are in high school. The impact of this factor also depends on how much later most of the story is written. It would be harder to believe in the main character's redemption if everything only happens a few months after the death.

I am wondering how a jock would function with this vertigo? And did a train hit him later because your MC did not move him?
Stories are for exploring the human condition. I think if you write it such that if he is a good person at heart, and very sorry, the reader would forgive him.

I agree with Diablodude. This should be a story of redemption, which is more than just learning to live with it. The guilt must drive your main character into becoming a better person. If you do that, your readers will empathize with your character. Alternatively, your character must be punished for what he did. If he gets away with it, your readers will feel cheated.

I am making an attempt to make everyone in the story 3-dimensional. I use the term "jock" fairly loosely-- mostly just as a convenient title based on the social groups I knew in high school. My jock character is not like the jocks from "Dazed and Confused" or anything like that. He does not go around giving nerdy kids swirlies or stuffing them in lockers. He's actually based on a guy I knew from high school. The guy was really likable and friendly to everybody. His mentality about the world seemed very simplistic and optimistic, yet he could also be somewhat shady when it came to girls. He had a very naive attitude about his shadiness, too, almost like he didn't realize he was doing anything wrong.


As for how he would play sports with vertigo, at the beginning of the story he has experienced it maybe once or twice during practice. If he'd lived, maybe he would've been unable to have a future in sports because of it.


And the issue of a train hitting the jock is briefly touched upon -- I was going to have it be either that the track wasn't in use anymore (talking about it like I am makes it seem so contrived and convenient, but...) or just have it be luck that he was found before a train actually went through. Although it has also got me thinking about the scene if the jock had later got hit by a train... I definitely feel like this would make the reader less sympathetic to the MC, even though I suppose the possibility exists with him just having left the body there and lucked out that a train didn't come.

Originally Posted by C.M. Aaron

I agree with Diablodude. This should be a story of redemption, which is more than just learning to live with it. The guilt must drive your main character into becoming a better person. If you do that, your readers will empathize with your character. Alternatively, your character must be punished for what he did. If he gets away with it, your readers will feel cheated.

At the risk of giving away too much of the plot the final scene in the book will play out how the MC redeems himself.

I would think virtually everyone has done stuff in the past they feel guilty about so should be capable of feeling empathy with the character you describe.

I think that's true for someone such as self-loathing as a writer; but the average reader thinks much more highly of themselves.

For the original poster, I would say that it doesn't matter if the reader can empathize with the character. The sole focus of your mind should be the development of the characters and how they proceed, by way of their motivations, through the events that follow the inciting incident. If you, personally, have a desire for your characters, externalize that in the character. If you want your readers to like him, then the character should want people to like him as well.