I think writers have to despise some narrators as well as some main characters. As an author, boredom would prevail if I only wrote about my own thoughts and ideas. It is fun playing in the mind of someone unlike myself. I already hangout with me 24/7. In reading and writing, it is all about the escape.

Sandy has a good point: to create exciting prose, maybe the author should experiment with narrators that he/she doesn't like.

katherine_sather wrote:Yes, you can dislike your narrator, but honestly, why would you want to? When I'm writing, I spend every waking moment (and sometimes unconscious moment) in my narrator's head. Your love of your characters shows in your writing, so even if your narrator is scum, he should be loveable scum to you.

I think so, too. I think Ellis has some affection for Patrick Bateman (American Psycho)

I'm not sure Ellis has affection for Patrick Bateman. I think he's magnifying some of his worst character traits in an attempt to come to terms with them.

If an author claims to "despise" his/her narrator, a reader can only assume that the narrator represents some part of the author that he/she resents (since the "despised" narrator had to come from somewhere)

But I like what Katherine S. said, and I agree. As much as an author claims to "despise" his/her narrator, a reader can only assume that since the narrator is a part of the author, the author actually loves the narrator. But in a hateful way.

Does that make any sense?

it makes sense to me

Well, if an author writes in 3rd person, omniscient point of view, that could practically be despising one's self, although, if you don't put yourself in it, then maybe not.

I think that is the story is told from the first person point of view, the narrator can definitely despise themselves, hate the world around them, and not be a likable character at all.

This is an interesting topic and I've made it the featured post on our home page at www.BookTalk.org.

Good job reader2121

It is an interesting topic, whether it's a narrator in particular that we're talking about or just any character in fiction. I'd say that an author can surely make a character despicable using some creative skill, but if we're sensing that he or she is editorializing about the character, actually despising the character, we'll reject this as almost unethical and certainly unskillful on the writer's part. It's the old showing vs. telling rule, in effect. Also, a writer who makes despicable characters needs to be careful that he doesn't do the opposite to other characters by making them too good. That's the way of the fairy tale.

I'm not so sure I'd call it unskillful; I think I'd call it rare. We don't really see many examples of writers hating their characters, which makes it all the stranger when we do. But despite the rarity, I think it adds depth and interest when you can tell that an author hates his narrator. In fact, I think that if an author hates his character and it doesn't detract from the story, it's a demostration of skill rather than a lack thereof.

I guess I wonder exactly how the writer's hate of the character would be shown. It would have to be more than the character being hateful, wouldn't it? Hateful characters are very common in fiction. As somebody else mentioned, writers might have fun creating them and so might express a little affection for them if you asked. Or they might truly hate them. But I can't see how this would come through in the fiction.