Had a weird breakthrough with character motivation in my book club reading

I was stuck on why a character kept making bad choices, then I flipped to the back of the book and saw she was carrying a photo of her mom from 1987 that explained everything. Anyone else ever spot a small detail like that that changes the whole debate for you?

3 comments

3 Comments

david_reed224d ago

Huh, I actually see it a little different. I think finding a detail like that can sometimes let us off the hook for judging the character's agency in the moment. For me, the photo explains her sadness but doesn't excuse her pushing everyone away, so the debate stays about her choices.

flores.emma4d ago

So are you saying the detail almost works against the story for you, @david_reed22?

evan5434d ago

That bit about "the photo explains her sadness but doesn't excuse her pushing everyone away" really hit me, @david_reed22. You're totally right, it's so easy to use a detail like that to justify everything a character does. I had a similar thing happen with a character in this thriller I read who kept lying to her friends. It bugged me the whole book until I found out she was hiding a gambling debt to protect her dad. That one detail changed how I saw her, but like you said, it still doesn't make the lying okay. The debate for me shifted from "why is she so mean" to "can you forgive the lie even if you understand the reason.