Join the Resistance!
Speculative fiction protagonists often fight against corrupt regimes, criminal organizations, or systemic injustice. What makes these stories so appealing to write and read? How do these fights resolve in ways that convey a writer’s message or their characters’ personalities? Does the fight have to be a pitched battle, or could organization and passive resistance be an exciting read, too?
David D. Levine (M), Carol Berg, Eva L. Elasigue, Shannon Anthony
This is the exact same description of a panel I was on at OryCon, with one other panelist whose name I have unfortunately forgotten. (I really suck at networking.) At OryCon, we spent most of the time talking about resistance movements, both real life and fictional, and discussed a lot of their techniques and how they change, grow, and work overall. We did touch occasionally on why they’re popular in a literary sense, which was the main focus of this panel, and I guess a lot closer to the written description.
“History is a story where civilization is the main character”
Eva L. Elasigue
Why is it compelling?
- You can fix it. It’s nice to think there’s a solution to the dystopia-like problems the world is currently facing.
- Metaphor for what we’re doing when we feel helpless
- From Carol Berg: It’s not about the society, but the characters. Rebellion is backdrop.
- I don’t really agree with this point. Certainly, the stories are about the characters, but I think the rebellion is more than just “backdrop.” Being part of some rebellion is a huge thing, and will completely overpower every aspect of a character’s life, and redefine who they are. Whoever they would have been, whatever they might have done, is completely changed by joining the resistance. It affects them, and they should affect it as well.
- That said (continuing my own opinion here), they don’t necessarily have to be the stars of the rebellion. Your main character doesn’t have to be Katniss, she can be one of the footsoldiers whose name we never learned. I don’t know of any, but I would be surprised if there weren’t at least a few romance novels whose main characters are members of the French Resistance but not in any kind of leadership positions. They don’t have to personally overthrow Hitler to be compelling, they could be one tiny cog in the huge machine with that goal.
- It’s also about independence, empowerment, overthrowing current entrenched power structures that aren’t working for everyone. All things that are especially appealing to YA people, which is why there is so much dystopias being fought against in YA fiction.
- It’s also about inspiration and hope.
Rebel or Criminal?
“One man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter”
Ronald Reagan
How do you distinguish between the two? How do you let the reader know these are rebels not criminals?
You can leave it ambiguous, and let the reader decide. Think of Blake (from Blake’s Seven). Fanatic? Criminal? Freedom fighter? Terrorist? All of the above?
Who’s telling the story? They’re the heroes, right?
If both sides are evil, it’s a war, not a rebellion.
One of the major differences is that a rebel wants to change things.
I disagree with this one somewhat, too. Sometimes, just the act of being different is rebellion. Refusing to fit in with society’s structures and living your own life on your own terms is an act of rebellion, even if you’re not trying to change those structures. Case in Neuromancer is a good example. Cyberpunk as a genre is full of such people. Overthrowing the system is not the goal (and is usually seen as impossible) but I would argue they are still rebels.
Delokita, the main character of my novel Thoughtless has a similar attitude. She’s not trying to overthrow the system as much as carving out a place for herself within or around it. (I’m not saying how that may or may not change over the sequels. 🙂
“The system is the system. The universe is big enough to take care of itself. The last thing it needs is me messing with it.”
Delokita of the Belt
Han Solo is a good example of someone who started as one and switched to the other.
Really, the answer to the question is, who do you want the reader to empathize with?
In my case, both. In Yellow Tape and Coffee, I showed the “rebellion” from both sides. Both the older wolves fighting to maintain the status quo and the ones trying to overturn it had good points and bad points, and good actors and people acting in bad faith within their factions.
What about a soft rebellion?
AKA, “social rebellion”. This was one that didn’t come up at OryCon. An example of a “soft rebellion” was the Civil Rights Movement. It wasn’t exactly bloodless, but it forced reforms within a prevailing government, rather than overthrew the existing one altogether.
But when was it used as a plot device within fiction? Foundation may be a good example. The Foundation was (originally, at least) sponsored by and part of the Empire. Encanto was also mentioned. I haven’t seen it yet myself, so can’t really comment. Other examples include Life of Brian, which shows a soft rebellion (does it, though? I don’t think they were trying to get Rome to issue reforms so much as demand they leave altogether. I could be wrong, though.
Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance was another example, which I also haven’t seen yet. (Though, like Encanto, it’s on my list to get around to eventually.)
It was also brought up that Life of Brian, unlike most resistance stories, also showed the infighting that is common in such movements. I brought that up at OryCon, as well, and I was pretty proud to have included it in Yellow Tape and Coffee, showing two groups, with the same goals, and the same enemies, still end up fighting each other.
Entertainment
Warlock Wandering was one example brought up where they were used entertainment. Again, I haven’t seen it, so can’t comment.
One of my favorites, though, is Guy Gavriel Kay’s Tigana. The main character is a singer who ends up joining a resistance movement against a pair of foreign invaders. It’s a wonderfully complex story in which music and poetry used to aid the rebellion and spread its word plays a central role.
Another favorite of mine, the old Disney animated Robin Hood does this as well. It does a great job of showing how the song “The Phony King of England” disempowered Prince John, brought hope to the people, spread as a way to let them know how many were on their side, and got to the prince enough he was turning against his advisers because of it, eroding his support within his court as well as among the people. Not bad for a children’s movie with talking animals.
On Tropes
In opera, convention is that the bad guy is the bass, while the good guy is a tenor: younger, with less power, but far more interesting.
“Tropes have a lot of gravity. If you don’t apply enough thrust, you’ll spiral in and crash into it. If you apply too much, you’ll just shoot off into the void.”
David Levine