The worlds we create for our stories and novels will nearly always have some form of rules and constraints, which may determine and/or limit what our characters can do. Some rules may be self-imposed, others may be imposed by law or circumstance, while still others may arise from the beliefs our characters hold. In this post, I’m concerned with the latter and how this applies to Scar and his contemporaries in Angel Fall.
By beliefs, I mean both the prejudices a character develops as a result of their life experience (see my posts I know what I know and Them and us for more on this), and their system of faith (see A time of angels for more).
We might consider prejudices as being a character’s personal value system, because whatever we may think of their views, and no matter how abysmally awful they are, they will regard them as perfectly justifiable, and essential identifiers of who they are. Often, their value system will determine who they will identify and associate with, and who they will despise.
Turning to faith systems; religions tend to be rife with rules, and as much as they can be supportive of individuals and build community, they can also be corrupt, controlling, and devisive. Thou shalt not steal, they shalt not kill, don’t eat meat on a Friday, don’t eat swine flesh, pray at certain times of the day. The Ten Commandments are a great example of faith-based rules, as are those set down in the Old Testament books of Levitcus and Deuteronomy (we won’t get into their supposed legitimacy in this post, nor the rights or wrongs of what they espouse).
Both types of systems will naturally colour a character’s worldview, and constrain them from within and without by means of what is acceptable and/or permitted according to their status, who they are, where they are, and who they are with. In other words, their beliefs may determine how they behave in any given situation, what they might say, do, think, feel.
As I wrote the above paragraphs, I imagined Scar as being a prejudiced young boy, and complicit in injustice as a result. Now, I feel it would be better if he is the victim of prejudice. Let’s brainstorm this idea, and see where it takes us, always bearing in mind that we can rip it up later and start afresh.
In my post In the beginning, we learned that Scar got his name from the burns he suffered as a child to his face and left arm. I can imagine the value of perfection and beauty in an ugly world where humans are an endangered species. Being flawed, then (which for our purposes is useful), Scar might suffer discrimination due the prejudices of his contemporaries. They might make a sign as he passes to ward off evil. They might make up stories about him, laugh at him or bully him. The rules of their faith could restrict his freedom, and forbid him from taking part in certain activities, ceremonies or practices stipulated by their faith.
What effect might this have on Scar? He would be hurt, of course, but I also see him as being defiant and resilient. As much as his people don’t care for him, he still cares for them, and wants their unattainable approval. As a result, he may try to please and appease them, thus making himself vulnerable to being used. It would be satisfying to end his character arc with him growing out of the need for the approval of other, and for those who shunned him to finally come to value him for his true worth and beauty as a fellow human.
I can now envision a possible pivotal event in the opening chapters of the novel, based on what we have so far posited about the story:
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