Topic:
Every person has good and bad traits; everyone does both good and bad things.
And we certainly have plenty of examples emerging from our various media. There
is a precipice each character stands on–one side is too good to be true, the
other side to evil to exist. What makes a character too good to believe? How
evil can a main character become before they are irredeemable?
I
think we all have a picture in our mind of someone who was too good to be true.
The person is a little too smooth, a little too charming, a little too perfect
and that little voice in your head is telling you the person isn’t for
real. In real life, you just know that
your instincts are more in tune to the situation than what is being presented
to you. In real life, you listen to your gut.
Now in the land of story telling, the rules are different.
When
I think of main the character(s) being too good to be true, one movie comes to
mind: Enchanted.
We
have the heroine, Giselle, banished by an evil queen from a fairy-tale world, and
her hero, Prince Edward. (You will see the character arch for both as the movie
progresses.) If you amp the: Integrity
and character; confident, courageous, detail-orientated, committed and
faithful, fights injustice. . .well, you get the mental picture. Taken to the extreme, the characters are,
well, too good to be true.
I
believe it would be difficult to create fictional characters that were too good
to be true unless the particular trait is a deemed “fatal flaw”. Thus creating a plot devise for pivotal
points in the novel. I would think it
would be more likely that a character who makes unbelievably ‘stupid’ decisions
might appear in the storyline. (A topic
best saved for a future blog.)
The
second part of this month’s Round Robin Topic: When is a character too evil to
exist?
Psychology
Today states
that there is a chemistry of morality. Rodents that genetically lack receptors
for oxytocin behave like sociopaths – they do whatever they want without regard
for their safety or welfare. They are loners and live in permanent survival
mode. The oxytocin circuit in brain needs nurturing to develop properly. Also,
the victims of abuse in the study were also I in survival mode and had impaired
social behaviors. This tells me that the
line of being beyond redemption is when a person is a classic sociopath.
I
however, unless I have selected a nonfiction article or case study featuring sociopaths,
I have no desire to jump into the pit of vile evil that is in that person’s
mind.
I
find the “Dark Triad”. The Personality
of Evil of particular interest when setting a boundary in the level of ‘evil’
in my story line. A main (though in my case, a secondary) character/villain will
exhibit these traits. First introduced
by psychologists Delroy L. Paulhus and Kevin Williams, the dark triad set of
overlapping personality traits, which host group of undesirable behaviors.
These three personality traits are narcissism, machiavellism, and psychopathy. Some
may say these traits can bring out the worst in human behavior. People who
score high on dark triad personality scale can be manipulative, have a high
sense of worth, superficial charm while lacking a considerable sense of empathy
for others. These are the three personality traits and their respective
descriptions that make up the dark triad.
Narcissism
High
sense of entitlement
·
Seek
status and prestige
·
An
aura of cockiness
·
Can
be highly self-centered
·
Engage
in a lot of short-term hook ups
·
Easily
aggressive in the face of criticism
·
Loves
praise
Psychopathic
·
Superficial
charm
·
Have
an inflated view of his/her own abilities
·
Lack
of empathy for others emotions
·
High
levels of deception, manipulativeness, and craftiness
·
Lack
of a guilt or remorse
·
Highly
impulsive
·
Generally
has a bad temper
Machiavellism
·
Manipulates
others to get his/her way
·
Very
cunning and calculation
·
Very
intelligent
·
Highly
observant
·
Very
aware of situations and surroundings
People
who possess the dark triad personality traits are manipulative in nature and
are well aware of what they can and cannot get away with, this may be because
they are either highly intelligent, or they have a lot of experience in social interactions. Therefore, they know how and what buttons to
push without bringing too much attention to themselves and their social
mindfulness means they are usually well aware of how they come across to people
and have a good handle on their appearance.
Because of their narcissist tendencies, it would be hard to form close
relationships with them. The reason, is he/she are more concerned with
maintaining and promoting an image rather than keeping a close friendship
So
where does this “Dark Triad” fit in the personality of your character? The traits can come in different forms:
someone who is an emotional bully, talking down to others while seeking status
and prestige. A corporate boss or an ambition corporate employee whose line of
work involved using people as a vehicle to reach their aims; their general
mentality is the end justifies the means regardless of who gets hurt. A person
with Dark Triad personality can also be one was calculating, he/she also
doesn't think about, or care about, the consequences of their actions, or who
gets hurt.
We
all have life experience, and probably can name people who have/had/are ‘living
the life-style’ in the above paragraph.
Does this mean these people are pure evil? If taken to the extreme, I’d say yes.
However,
at some point in time, everyone under stress can fall victim to ‘regrettable
personality traits’. The key is the said
person feels remorse and corrects/ apologizes.
And, at least makes an effort, to change those behaviors.
What
is your personal take on the subject?
Please
follow the listed Blog Hop links to see what this month’s participants have to
say.
Thank
you Rhobin for including me this month’s Blog Hop!
Happy
Reading,
Connie
