Building Reader Empathy for an Unlikeable Character (Analyzing Fairest by Marissa Meyer)

I recently finished Fairest by Marissa Meyer, and it blew me away. I already knew Meyer could write wildly entertaining tales with likeable protagonists (Cinder, Scarlet, Cress). With Fairest Meyer proved herself just as adept at slipping into the mind of a sociopath.

For those unfamiliar with the series, Fairest is a companion novel to the Lunar Chronicles that tells the backstory of the villain Queen Levana. Levana is evil: a rapist and a murderer several times over. Yet, as I was reading the book, I felt that I was able to, if not completely sympathize with her, still understand Levana enough to empathize with her.

So, I got to wondering: How did Meyer make us empathize with an evil character? Here’s what I came up with.

Brain Science for Writers 12/2/2015

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