A Parent as the main villain?

BookmarkUnicorn

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An okay idea or too overused and Star Wars like?
I feel like it seems overused at first but it has enough roots in many kids real lifes to ring true on some level, most of all if the child misunderstands why the parent does what they do...On the other hand well, not all parents are good ones, for better or worst. Hm. Just something I'm thinking of writing at the moment...
 

henmatth

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Most parents are happy to have kids. They hopefully pray to see them to be good citizens of society. Someday, we grow old and our kids may or may not take good care of us. But certainly, if you nurtured them well, they will treat you with respect and hopefully care for you.

But if you are a bad parent, often thinking about yourself, trying to be inconsiderate, not caring for your children's welfare; then you bid goodbye to a good future. You are not only raising bad kids and destroying their future; you are worthless person not setting good examples to them.
 

Tromboli

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I haven't noticed a huge amount of villian parents in MG and younger than that probably not much at all (though I don't read much younger) Be careful how you do it. In MG they're just now getting into the time where parents "don't understand" so its a new feeling, the antagonism of adults. Wouldn't want to be an idea you accidently premote.

As for good parent vs. Bad parent, seems kind of off topic to me. We're talking about POV of kids, so an antagonistic parent doesn't mean they don't love their children.
 

BookmarkUnicorn

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I always think of Matilda when this subject comes up. I'm not saying I would make all the parents or adults evil or anything (Unfortunate Events kind of did that to a certain level, as did Coraline at least halfway with the Other Mother, but I 'm not sure if that is MG. (Lots of kids weren't as scared as older readers by it I've read ). I do remember relating to lots of young book characters who had 'bad' parents at that age. I was mainly talking about the good parent or not issue thinking about the layers of the MCs pov and how she would view things vs. how they actually are a bit I guess. Seeing parents actions as more unfair etc..

Oh well, it's just an idea, I'm not set on it :). Sorry to trouble anyone.
 
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SheilaJG

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I always think about Mathilda, too, when this subject comes up. But her parents are so over-the-top awful that it's funny.

Another one that came to mind was Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy. The main character's mother and father are both awful. Also, I recently read Magic Marks the Spot (The Very Nearly Honorable League of Pirates, #1) where the MC, who wants to be a pirate, is pitted against her Admiral father. So it can and has been done.
 

rwm4768

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It all depends on how you handle it. It can still work. However, I'd recommend avoiding the "Luke, I am your father" moment.
 

DanielaTorre

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This can be pulled off in a number of ways that is not necessarily Vader-esk. Sometimes parents do morally reprehensible things for the sake of their family's welfare (think Anakin Skywalker pre-Vader), and sometimes they do things that appear to be the right thing at the moment.... sort of like in my book(s).

As they say, it's not the path to heaven that's paved with good intentions.

Flip the script. Secrets are good in a story. :D
 

lianna williamson

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I thought immediately of The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman. The main character's parents are on opposite sides of a political/religious conflict, and yet both manage to be villains who do truly evil things, as well as being crappy, uninvolved parents. I think it works in this story-- worth reading if you haven't.