A change of pace this Sunday this Sunday. Instead of a snippets from my featured novel, "Brede".
I thought I post a writing topic.
One of the most important characters in a story, the person we love to hate. The 'villain'.
Villian
I thought I post a writing topic.
One of the most important characters in a story, the person we love to hate. The 'villain'.
Villian
noun
1.
a cruelly malicious person who is involved in or devoted towickedness or crime;
scoundrel.
2.
a character in a play, novel, or the like, who constitutes an important evil agency
in the plot.
My personal faves (if you can label a villain as such):
White Witch from "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" by C. S. Lewis
The White Witch is a beautiful, proud, and cruel villain who has made herself Queen of Narnia against the wishes of all who live there. It is because of her that it has been always winter and never Christmas for the last 100 years. If anyone tries to rebel against her, they are sure to be found and captured by her spies, at which point the rebel will be imprisoned or turned to stone. She is also the witch who wages war against Peter, Lucy, and their Narnian army. (She still frightens me).
Jane Eyre was really is like a Cinderella story in some ways, with plenty of villainy for our heroine to cope with as she proves herself a princess. (Skillfully written, this novel is a favorite of mine).
Darth Vader, Star Wars. The Wicked Witch of the West. The Wizard of Oz.
Do I write these type of villains?
No. ( I wouldn't be able to sleep at night.). Usually, villains in my novels are people who did not start out as evil; if the villain is evil, she/ he is mostly off stage (remember Meerkat Manor gives me nightmares).
In my YA novel, Whisper upon the Water, Sister Enid, did a great deal of good before her focus changed. Since this was a YA novel (Dream Real Award Winner, National Book Award Nominee, and Frankfurt eBook Finalist), which deals with Native American issues, I was careful not to make the evil a racial focus. Instead, Sister Enid and the circumstances where a product of the times: ignorance and fear, which became hatred.
The Purpose of Villains.
In my opinion,the villain can be worth more than the hero. I say this because the villain, or antagonist, serves many purposes. In his or her simplest form, the villain is a foil to the protagonist. The values and goals of the hero are contrasted and challenged by the villain.
The villain and the hero both play different roles in the plot. While the villain initiates and develops the conflict, the hero finds the solution. In many novels and stories, the villain is far more complex than the hero. What led them to choose his or her path? A hero may have "greatness thrust upon him," but a villain leads a life of isolation. What I mean to say is that no matter how difficult it gets for the hero on his or her journey, Good will always be there for support. In contrast, the villain chooses Evil —a path he or she will walk alone.
The antagonist and villain figures of fiction and real life teach us more about ourselves than the hero. In the villain we identify our best and worst qualities by either disagreeing with the villain's actions or attempting to comprehend the vile deeds he or she commits.
It must be emphasized that heroes and villains are interchangeable and far from black and white, but in their most stereotyped forms, they contrast. A hero may struggle, but his or her values are strong and unwavering. A villain, like Darth Vader, may switch to the Good side.
Villains provide fiction with entertainment, plot and philosophical depth. In many ways, it is the villain that defines the hero - chooses him.
Happy Reading,
Connie
Please visit the other wonderful writers who participate in our weekly blog hop:
http://triciamg.blogspot.com/Tricia McGill
/http://yesterrdayrevisitedhere.blogspot.com/ (Juliet Waldron)
/http://yesterrdayrevisitedhere.blogspot.com/ (Juliet Waldron)
