By Ayesha Begum, Senior Editor
Are evil characters all as they seem? Or should we, as readers, look beyond their ‘hard’ exteriors and seek to understand the reason why they act the way they do?
When we, as readers, envision the antagonists of stories (or the ‘bad guys’ as they’re more commonly known), we usually assume that they are the offspring of pure evil and we dismiss them as soon as it is made clear by the author that they are meant to be the outcasts and the hated ones. As a result of this, we feel no remorse towards these characters and will happily read about them being injured or even killed; if anything remotely positive happens to them we only feel jealous on behalf of the good guys. In a sense, this would make us the villains as we only wish evil upon others, however, are these characters really the disliked characters they are made out to be?
In the Shakespeare play ‘Much Ado About Nothing’, the main instigator of all the trouble and drama is Don John the ‘Bastard’ (born out of wedlock, he was seen as lesser due to the sacrilegious circumstances of his birth). Many of the readers or audience will dislike Don John, and with reason, but has anyone ever considered Don John’s perspective and him as an individual? Sure, for some unknown reason he tries to break up a relationship and stop a marriage between two of the main characters but, eventually fails after continuously attempting to do so. However, I personally do not think he is as bad as he is made out to be.
One reason as to why the audience should give him some respect is, as unlike other men of this era that treat women as objects that were only useful for domestic chores and looking after children, he treats everyone the same- he hates everyone, no matter the gender. Besides this, Don John never asked to be an illegitimate child and bring shame upon his family. It is not his fault that his parents decided to have an affair outside of marriage. If anything, the community and the other characters in the play are the real villains for discriminating against Don John and alienating him from the rest of the characters as a result.
Although not explored greatly as a character and presented as more of a one-dimensional figure, Don John may have also purposefully closed himself off from society in order to prevent himself from hearing such negativity being spread about him and may resent all characters for this reason.
Another example of such characters are Draco Malfoy and Tom Riddle from the Harry Potter franchise. Although, it may seem trivial to some to analyse characters from novels intended for a younger audience, it can still teach us that perhaps it is external factors that have made these characters they way they are and how that can be reflected in real life situations.
Draco Malfoy was made out to be a bully from the start of the series, and understandably, many readers immediately developed a dislike for the character, however, what proportion of the readers have considered the way he had been brought up? It was not him acting throughout these novels, but rather he was presented as a product and almost as a mouthpiece for his parents - he expressed views that his parents had instilled in him from a young age and repeated derogatory things that his parents have mentioned to him. Draco Malfoy even wanted to be friends with Harry Potter, the protagonist, in the first place but got rejected, and although he, perhaps, shouldn’t have acted in such a rash manner, it’s understandable as to why he would be bitter towards Harry Potter. It all goes back to his parents and his upbringing, rather than his own human nature - I think everyone that has either read the novels or watched the films has lost track of the amount of times Draco mentions his father.
Besides this, some readers may argue that Draco Malfoy is an ‘evil’ character as he joined the infamous ‘Death Eaters’, which, at its core, was a cult-like organisation aimed at killing anyone that did not comply with demands from the ring leader (AKA Voldemort, pretty low-key guy, you probably haven’t heard of him). Again, the debate of Draco following his parents’ footsteps comes into this. He both expressed in the film and the novels that he did not really want any part of this, which can be seen in his constant reluctance to actually participate in any violent activities he was asked of. Evidently, it is simply not in his human nature to be the ‘villain’, yet he continues to be presented and perceived as such.
Although Tom Riddle may not have been as reluctant to kill and do bad deeds and seems to rightfully deserve his notoriety, one cannot help but think about if things were different.
The reader is first introduced to Tom Riddle in ‘Harry Potter and The Chamber of Secrets’ through his connection to Voldemort; his past is revealed little by little in later novels such as ‘Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix’.
As Tom Riddle’s mother, Merope Gaunt, passed away while giving birth to him, he was left in the care of staff in an orphanage. Amongst many other children, Tom Riddle most likely did not receive much attention which is required for a child to be able to develop and become socially adept. Additionally, Tom Riddle was born as a product of ‘amortentia’, a love potion used in the Wizarding World. This meant that he was physically incapable of being able to love. This raises the question as to why there are not more dark wizards like Tom Riddle, who later took on the form of the renowned Voldemort; this seems to come down to the affection the child received from others while growing up, something that is very difficult to achieve in an orphanage.
This makes one think that if his mother had survived or if he was passed onto another loving family member, then perhaps he would not have ended up the way he had and would have been taught about morals and the difference between right and wrong through the power of emotion.
Moreover, Tom Riddle had to discover his magical capabilities himself and was not told that he possessed such capabilities - this may have affected him greatly in the long run as he was not told about some of the dangers of magic and how to control his magical abilities. Although Tom Riddle did attend the wizarding school ‘Hogwarts’, he most likely would have found it easy to manipulate his way through his school life by pretending he already knew about certain skills.
There may be some skills in the Wizarding World that have to be taught at an early age, otherwise the window for that to develop would close and would not re-open. This self discovery also meant that Tom did not know how to utilise his skills properly and perhaps took advantage of them as he supposedly frightened other children at the orphanage with magic. This meant that rumours flew around the orphanage and other children distanced themselves from Tom Riddle; by being isolated, Tom’s social and emotional development may have been delayed which may have lead to the formation of a socially inept character that only knows how to manipulate others, rather than form actual relationships.
All of this suggests that Tom Riddle was not inherently evil, but rather that he wasn’t taught any different, thus, a reader should sympathise, to an extent, with such characters rather than solely ostracise them.
Some things that all three of these characters share in common is that their film counterparts look like the average person and the fact that most of their behaviour seems to be influenced by their environments rather than it being in their instinctive nature. The depiction of such characters is significant as by not giving them features that are seen as unappealing such as big hooked green noses, warts and crooked teeth, it shows that these ‘villains’ are regular people that need to be treated as regular people instead of being rejected and shunned by society. It also gives the audience a sense of relatability - if the characters look more like the audience, then perhaps the audience is able to see through the initial veil and are able to sympathise for the characters. Although this may not have been the most varied comparison, I believe that such patterns can be seen in most other antagonists and ‘villains’.
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