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Here we are at the final type of story and it’s one that can give an author a massive headache. Not in the moment, but after the story is written, published, and absorbed by readers. I’m talking about ‘Right vs Wrong’, which creates stories about temptation, good/evil, and morality.
We always think that this is an easy story to write because who can argue with right and wrong. Killing somebody is wrong. Saving someone is right. Fairly simple and universal concepts, which every reader can connect to. Definitely no gray area like if you kill someone who has been murdering others. Nobody would dare to think that’s a good thing since killing is ALWAYS wrong. That’s enough sarcasm since I’m sure everyone gets my point.
Morality isn’t universal. Culture, experience, religion, mental state, and many other factors will mold a person’s sense of right and wrong. Even the big crimes we know are wrong aren’t always treated that way. People have defended murderers and rapists if they feel there was a bizarre moral high ground. That’s because something influences their sense of right and wrong to the point where justification is created. Other people won’t agree or even be disgusted by the mentality, but this is the human race. We aren’t a hive mind. More of a pack mentality where people will fall in line behind someone else to adopt their morality. No wonder cults are so common throughout our history.
Getting back to writing for those who haven’t rushed off to the comments to talk about the real world, the grayness of morality is a challenge. ‘Right vs wrong’ stories tend to involve someone being tempted to make a wrong decision. An author would like to believe that all readers would know which is the ‘correct’ choice, but that’s not the case. You may always have a group of readers who think the wrong decision is the right one. Nothing you can do about it beyond accepting the fact.
Something you should never do is argue your moral code with your readers. Being a stranger to them, you aren’t going to convince them to change their ways. It’s more than likely that they are surrounded by people who share their views, so they will always have more support for their stance. This doesn’t mean you have to agree with them or change your own ways. Just that there really isn’t any point in confrontation, especially over a fictional conflict. You know where you stand and remaining by your morality is more important than changing strangers on the Internet.
I’ve used ‘right vs wrong’ in my stories a lot. Heroes have to make big decisions and their morality is traditionally supposed to stay strong. I like having them waver a bit as they grow, but I still skew towards traditional ‘good/evil’ things. This is where I run into issues with some readers. For example, one of my stories had a hero meeting an arrogant lover of his girlfriend. It was a cultural open relationship thing, which the hero agreed to since he would be traveling. (Horrible sum up of what was always designed to be a tragic relationship.) Anyway, I had several readers asking why the hero didn’t just kill the asshole lover who was goading him into a fight. When I pointed out that such an act would be murder even in a fantasy world, they claimed the hero was weak and the asshole deserved to die. This was such a shocking mentality for me to face since I would think the more heroic act is to not take the bait, kill a weaker opponent, and go to jail instead of finishing your quest. Yet, the morality of these readers allowed them to believe certain people were okay to kill for their general, non-violent behavior.
What do other people think of the ‘right vs wrong’ theme?