Writing about a child rapist did not make Vladimir Nabokov a child rapist.
Writing about an authoritarian theocracy did not make Margaret Atwood an authoritarian theocrat.
Writing about adultery did not make Leo Tolstoy an adulterer.
Writing about a ghost did not make Toni Morrison a ghost.
Writing about a murderer did not make Fyodor Dostoevsky a murderer.
Writing about a teenage addict did not make Isabel Allende a teenage addict.
Writing about dragons and ice zombies did not make George R.R. Martin either of those things.
Writing about rich heiresses, socially awkward bachelors, and cougar widows did not make Jane Austen any of those things.
Writing about people who can control earthquakes did not make N.K. Jemisin able to control earthquakes.
Writing about your favorite characters and/or ships in situations that you choose does not make you a bad person.
It’s a shame that in this day and age these things need to be said.
Or, in short: the narrator =/ the author.
You know what else is a shame? This nowadays tendency of putting on the author the responsibility of teaching their readers morality.
Authors are allowed to write morally ambiguous characters.
Authors are allowed to write downright despicable characters - and guess what they are even allowed to make despicable characters charismatic and likeble and the protagonists of their stories if they wish - because absolute monsters exist only under the bed.
It is not up to the author to spoonfeed the readers about morality and Yes I know this character did a bad thing and I am going going to show it in the story and make other characters call them out of it and– Bullshit.
The authors should be able to write what they want without having thousands of people jumping and their throats claiming to know them, their ideas and their morality based on what they write.
It’s not up to the author to teach you about what is right and what is wrong.
It’s not up to the author to teach you about what is right and what is wrong.
