I just finished reading a book for my book club: Monster by Walter Dean Myers.
The 16 year old protagonist, Steve, is on trial for murder. He’s portrayed as a terrified and nearly frantic youth who is trying to make sense of the justice system and what he’s experiencing.
Myers used an interesting technique in the story. Steve, an aspiring screenwriter, records his trial in the form of a screenplay…with camera angles, etc., included. The protagonist’s reasoning for doing this is that by looking at the process through a lens, he gets a little distance from the events, which calms him a little.
Interspersed with the screenplay is a journal that Steve uses. Readers, I think, need this diary for insights into Steve’s thoughts and feelings and to help them relate to the character more.
As a writer, I’ve worked to get my readers as close as possible to my protagonist—especially in the last two books I’ve written. I want my readers to see the world through my protagonists’ eyes, feel what they feel, and relate to them. I want the characters to be very likeable.
But there are many books with main characters that readers may feel ambivalent about. This was the case with Monster. Is the protagonist guilty or innocent? There was always some distance between myself and Steve. Maybe I knew how the character felt now, but I wasn’t privy to all his thoughts—only the ones he recorded. But because the writer had made the protagonist interesting to me, I kept reading to try to learn more about him.
I wasn’t even completely sure I believed the protagonist (which was, I think, the author’s plan.) So there was a bit of the unreliable narrator going on.
I thought it was an interesting approach—but not one that I’d take with my traditional mysteries. I create flawed protagonists…but I try to make the character flaws things that ordinary readers would relate to.
How close do you let readers get to your protagonist? If you’re creating narrative distance, what are you achieving with that effect (for Monster I think it was to create discussion between readers…as I’m sure I’ll find at my book club meeting)? As a reader, do you like protagonists that are open books, or characters that you can’t quite figure out?
I like to portray my characters through their own eyes, their friends eyes, and the villain’s eyes. Three different and competing perspectives that paint a colorful picture for the reader.
Elizabeth – Oh, that’s a very interesting question! I think one reason authors may want to create distance between their characters and the reader – at least for crime fiction – is that bad things are going to happen to the character. It’s easier for readers to cope with that if they’re not too close to the character. I’ve done that in the manuscript I just finished. I give some (but not all) of the backstory of one of my characters because he’s the first victim in my novel. I didn’t want readers too attached (nor did I want to be, truth be told).
I think it’s important to allow the reader to get close to the protag. When they care about the character, then they (reader) will care about what happens.
Great post!
As a reader, I like characters I come to know and understand. I don’t necessarily have to relate to them, but I have to care about them.
Karen
I want my readers right there in my protagonists’ heads, which is another reason I don’t like having too many POV characters, because as soon as you move to another head, you’re abandoning the other one(s) and your readers have to regroup.
I’m reading a book now that has a distant narrator for long passages, and that’s exactly what happens to me while reading. I get distanced.
Terry
Terry’s Place
Romance with a Twist–of Mystery
Some stories are definitely more suited to a really close pov. But sometimes when the story is bigger I enjoy a more distant 3rd person when the voice and story is great.
I think you have to be very skilled to do it and do it well. The Murder of Roger Ackroyd comes to mind. If you can create the intimacy, the payoff can potentially be huge. But if it’s sloppy, you feel cheated.
Both. Depends upon the story. Regardless, if I can’t relate to the protagonist at all, the book is a failure for me as a reader.
I like a little surprise, but the main character needs to be relatable. I don’t like antiheroes much either.
Stephen–And the reader gets to decide whom to believe!
Laura–I think it really has to be an excellent book for me to enjoy that kind of distance. I haven’t seen much of it in genre fiction, but I sure have for the books my book club picks out. :)
Margot–Ahh! Yes, that’s a good point. If we’re going to kill someone, we might want to create some distance there so we’ll prepare the readers more.
Journaling Woman–It makes readers keep turning pages, I think.
Deb–Exactly. And, if the fact the narrator is unreliable comes as a twist ending, I’m more on board with it (not sure why. I like to be surprised as a reader, I guess.)
Karen–Now that’s a very good point. I didn’t *relate* to the protagonist in “Monster,” but I don’t think I was expected to. I *did* care what happened to him. If Myers hadn’t included those journal entries, though, I’m not sure I’d have cared as *much*.
Alex–Not for me, either, unless it’s a graphic novel—I sort of expect antiheroes there.
Terry–I’m thinking it’s a better technique for literary fiction than it is for genre fiction. I’m just not looking for any narrative distance with the kinds of books I’m writing.
I think my readers should know so much about my protagonist that they can relate to her, but I also want scope for development and I definitely want to leave my readers begging for more.
Just like the very funny cosy I read today – it was over far too soon, and a couple of scenes with a killer cat made me snort with laughter. Review coming up next week.
For me it depends on the story. The story you describe would I think be rather boring with a protagonist you know too well.
I like a little mystery behind a character–it can open up potential for unexpected things to happen.