In this next post on world building, we’ll talk about prejudice and how it shapes a character’s worldview, with a particular focus on Scar and the narrative environment of Angel Fall.
Right or left. Centrist. Moderate. Radicalised. Extremist. Fundamentalist. We live in a divisive and prejudicial age, and no matter where we stand on the political and social spectra, we will hold certain beliefs and make assumptions about our opposites. We’re this and they’re that, we say, and they’re wrong because we are the keepers of truth. Them and us, that’s what it boils down to. Battlelines drawn, we oppose our enemy and stand ready to defend our beliefs.
Prejudice, our pre-judgements about a person, place, group or institution, separate us from each other and draw our world in charcoal shades. One look at a person’s appearance, a handshake, a gesture, just the wrong sort of smile, and we can instantly decide whether we like them or not. Skin colour. Creed. Country of origin. Social class. Call it an instinct if you will, but prejudice can be sinister and insidious, and is very much a part of who we are as a species because there is a survival advantage to being a member of a pack.
I like to think of this as the mathematics of belonging, which I’ll discuss in terms of Scar’s world in Angel Fall.
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