An MC Who the Reader Will Hate?

Discussion in 'Character Development' started by Sen507, Jan 6, 2015.

  1. KaTrian

    KaTrian A foolish little beast. Contributor

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    @Steerpike Wikipedia says generally up until 11, but there doesn't seem to be any clear consensus on the matter.

    I think he'd be deemed a pedo by most people in my culture, legal definitions aside. While he's a creep and disgusted me to no end, the novel is really good, so hateful characters can definitely work when done well.
     
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  2. Steerpike

    Steerpike Felis amatus Contributor

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    I think they say generally because it is defined by the developmental stage of the child, which may well vary across a range of ages.

    I agree the novel is well done, and Nabokov's writing was excellent.
     
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  3. 123456789

    123456789 Contributor Contributor

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    HH describes nymphets as being ages 9 to 14. This is not adolescent. That's prebuscent. He meets Lo before she is 13, and falls in love with her. Anything before 13 qualifies as pedophilia according to Wikipedia.
     
  4. Steerpike

    Steerpike Felis amatus Contributor

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    Wikipedia is wrong, then, since pedophilia isn't a classification based on age but on sexual maturity or lack thereof. In the vast majority of girls (~95%) adolescence starts between 8 1/2 and 13 (according to one source; a second puts it a 9-13).
     
  5. 123456789

    123456789 Contributor Contributor

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    So youre saying you're prebuscent before you hit puberty, and then adolescent after you start hitting puberty? How then to distinguish between a 12 year old and a 17 year old, when both are obviously very different?
     
  6. Steerpike

    Steerpike Felis amatus Contributor

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    That's the point. Those terms are based on a biological state not an age. They're going to differ by individual.
     
  7. 123456789

    123456789 Contributor Contributor

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    im going to assume he qualifies as a special case of pedophilia. A man liking any ten year old is not normal. It needs to be called something.
     
  8. BlessedbyHorus

    BlessedbyHorus Member

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    I actually like your character. To me the most well liked main characters are not goody goody heros, but instead a complicated/complex character that is somewhat like an anti-hero. Think Walter White from Breaking Bad. Your character has flaws, which imo I think the readers will like.

    I say go for it! But just explain why the character is the way he is. What caused him to be like that?
     
  9. BayView

    BayView Huh. Interesting. Contributor

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    Hebephile. Seriously, look it up.

    And, biologically, assuming the 17 year old had finished puberty, you'd classify her as an adult. We have a tendency to infantilize teenagers (in my opinion), so it's tempting to think of people as being adolescent for longer than really fits in terms of physical changes. I guess it's not out of the question to consider a sort of physical adolescence AND a mental/social adolescence, if that's what you're looking for?
     
  10. NiallRoach

    NiallRoach Contributor Contributor

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    This thread is very interesting for me, as my MC is a paedophile, pursuing a relationship with a twelve year old girl.
    She's intended to be sympathetic; there's a lot of stuff that goes one which has basically nothing to do with that relationship, and I'd expect the reader to feel sorry for her, but I know that there are those people who'll hate her from the word go.

    Not to hijack the thread, though.
     

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