There seems to be an ongoing conversation in my head about the nature of good and bad in kids’ books. I’m going with it.
But with the good and bad also goes society’s response: as seen through the plot twists.
I started off with the anti-hero: and the more I think about it, the more I find of them – though still more for adults than for kids.
I’ve already applied my first test: if they are (generally) bad in the story, and still (intentionally) bad at the end, they’re an anti-hero.
The anti-hero is the baddie that gets away with it, to a large extent. But in many stories, the writer is not prepared to let the baddie get away with it. For crimes, there are consequences.
The classic notion is Crime and Punishment (along with a novel of the same name). But how comfortable are we, as early twenty-first century readers, with the notion of punishment? Particularly in children’s books?
I’ll settle for consequences. Which is often what we see happening, in children’s stories.
The villains ply their trade – and events head in a direction where the villain comes a cropper, even if it takes a while longer than we’d like.
So here’s some new tests. The anti-hero gets away with most of their naughty deeds by the end of the story.
The villain does not – maybe for a time, but consequences must follow.
The anti-hero usually has some little elements which allow us to warm to them, or admire them, or even laugh at them a little – the ‘badness’ level is reduced a bit. (Depravity sounds a bit strong, in kids’ books.)
The villain, by contrast, lacks this. There may be nothing we like about them – bad through and through.
Alternatively, there may be some likeable things about them, but the quality of their badness tips the scales: they end up much more bad than anti-hero.
Villains are memorable. It may be their appearance, their habits – but without doubt, we remember their villainous deeds.
Because, it seems, much of children’s literature is about deeds, not just intentions, or even what we say. Children are all about action – and actions definitely speak loud in children’s books.
The anti-hero acts (or in Blart’s case, tries to avoid acting, and ends up doing so anyway). Sometimes they do so mindfully, sometimes situations present themselves in which they can’t quite resist the potential for badness.
Villains, by contrast, also act – but there is more of a sense of intention. As they act, so they are – thoughts and deeds together.
They may take a while to show their true colours, sometimes, but when they do, we soon understand who they truly are.
Next time, I’ll show you my examples of villains – and also try to draw some conclusions about what their deeds draw out of the heroes of the stories.