Why Trauma MUST be Recognised in Character-Driven Narratives
TA - violence in narrative including killing, dying, sexual assault, loss
In a previous blog post I talked about how character actions should be supported by an appropriate amount of context. i.e.:
Is the context of X and Y enough to plausibly support the action of Z?
In this blog, I’m going to address how some contexts require a reaction:
Is the context of X and Y plausible without the reaction of Z?
This is most vital to consider when it comes to traumatic events in a character’s history. Trauma needs to be dealt with adequately for it to be believable and for the reader to be able to empathise with and even believe in the character.
So let’s take a look at some of the most common pitfalls of all:
Death
I’ve read books where the death of a loved one in the arms of the main character has been dealt with in a single sentence before the action resumed… and when the immediate action sequence concluded no reference was made to the death or bereavement at all… which happened mere moments ago.
I’ve read books where the main character almost died, or did die, and was revived… only to launch themselves straight back into the same situation without even a moment of doubt. No existential crisis. Nothing.
Killing
I’ve read books where the main character has been forced to kill someone, and managed to get past it immediately with no emotional reaction whatsoever.
Sexual Assault
I’ve read books where sexual assault was presented as a drammatic event but has no subsequent impact on the victim or those in their immediate party.
So with all this in mind, let’s look at how significant trauma is a context in itself that requires adequate space within the narrative, AND a reaction from all those affected.
Let’s create a character, and for the sake of mixing things up, let’s call him Greg.
Greg is a hero of the Joseph Campbell school of storytelling. He’s popular, not too tall, white with light brown hair and acquires an amulet that… say... makes him irresistible to women. He has to get that amulet from point A to B and he faces many challenges along the way.
After refusing the call the prerequisite number of times, he sets out on his journey. Just Greg, his amulet and his best friend… Dave.
Context 1:
Greg comes from a quiet town where nothing much happens and everyone knows one another. A quarter of the way through the book he and Dave are in a pub and Dave mentions the amulet to a bloke at the bar. The bloke waits until Greg’s alone and attacks him. It’s brutal. Greg manages to defend himself but it’s clear the bloke is intent on killing him. Cornered and desperate, Greg kills him.
Greg proceeds to dust himself off, walk back into the bar, grab Dave and the two make a swift exit. Greg tells Dave off for mentioning the amulet, but is in no way shaken by the fact that he just killed for the first time ever.
This reaction doesn’t support the action. Even if Greg always fancied himself a bit of a hero, the reality of killing someone is very different to watching it on TV. There would be guilt, there would be fear and there would be immediate shock as the adrenaline hits his nervous system.
By not addressing the emotional/physical ramifications of the event, the reader is likely to question Greg as a character. If you want the reader to like him, let him react appropriately to the fact that he just became a killer.
Context 2:
It’s halfway through the book now. Greg and Dave are beginning to be more cautious about the amulet situation, but it is in essence a babe magnet. Greg’s been enjoying this up until now, but tonight they’re tired, and he and Dave just want to get an early night. However, one particular woman won’t take no for an answer. She drugs Greg and has her way with him. When Greg comes back to himself and realises what’s happened, he laughs it off and goes on his merry way and it’s never mentioned again.
This scenario comes up a lot in TV shows, where male sexual assault is rarely dealt with. But rape is rape and if it’s not consensual that’s exactly what it is. Greg has cause to feel traumatised. Even if he projects bravado, there should be an undercurrent. Perhaps he views women suspiciously from then on, getting overly defensive when they’re around. Perhaps he experiences flashbacks. Perhaps he gets overly aggressive when, after the event, Dave makes fun of him for enjoying the amulet’s effects. Perhaps he’s angry with Dave for not doing anything to prevent it.
However Greg reacts, he should actually react.
By not addressing this, you’re adding to a culture where rape is excused and victims are silenced. Rape and sexual assault are listed methods of torture, along with denailing and waterboarding. So let’s call a spade a spade, if your book suggests that rape has no lasting effect on the victim, then your reader will either walk away with that message or get rightfully angry and throw your book at a wall. Either way, not good. Don’t be part of the problem.
(If Greg’s written very well he might even realise that as the amulet has this effect, the woman wasn’t necessarily in control… and maybe all the women up until that point weren’t in control… and could any of them really have consented? If he’s a great character with great development, he’ll start reassessing his own behaviour in light of what just happened to him)
Context 3:
We’re almost at the end of the story. Greg can see point B, their ultimate destination, when he slips on some rocks and falls into a swirling river, which carries him away and he drowns. Dave fishes him out of the water and resuscitates him.
Greg comes around, gets to his feet, remarks on what a close call that was, then jumps back in the river and starts to swim across it.
Now for starters, CPR done properly often causes broken ribs and significant bruising. If you’ve undergone that in real life, you’re not getting up for a while. But even ignoring that common storytelling error, Greg has just died as a result of this journey and he’s bound to be questioning whether or not it’s all worth it. Why not just throw the amulet in the river? Why not go and live on a distant island somewhere where it can’t harm anyone? And yes, we’ve got to cross that river, but for the love of all things let’s find a bridge!
Even if all of those questions have been answered, and there is no bridge… let him take pause before going back in the water. Let him acknowledge the moment.
Context 4:
Greg and Dave have fought side by side to protect this amulet. Dave’s the cautious one who warns Greg not to overdo things. This time, Greg has ignored Dave’s advice and in the resulting fight, Dave takes a knife to the chest. Greg can’t save him. He chokes out his last in Greg’s arms and Greg wipes away a cursory tear.
Greg gets up, brushes himself off and continues to the next tavern, where his amulet scores him a wench and he has himself a nice time dolling out roguish smiles and charm as usual.
This reaction does nothing for anyone. Dave was an important part of Greg’s life. Even Greg, the hero character of old, needs to feel loss. He needs to feel adequately responsible for ignoring Dave’s advice, and Dave needs to live in his thoughts from that point on.
There are many ways in which significant trauma can resurface throughout a book without derailing the narrative. If done right, trauma can be a powerful tool for bringing the reader and protagonist together. By reading trauma, the reader shares in that trauma and they deserve to see it treated properly. Help your reader to feel what your character is feeling as a result of their experiences, and treat your reader’s reactions as valid by allowing your character to react appropriately.
If you want your story to have an impact, write the impact.
Suggested reading: The Emotional Wound Thesaurus: A Writer's Guide to Psychological Trauma (Writers Helping Writers Series Book 6) - find it here.