Making MCs more realistic

[HopelessDreamer]

In my WIP, my characters are dealing with many hardships that they are forced to overcome, including fighting for their own survival. Obviously to make them appear more human, I incorporate different flaws into each of them, but each is a good person overall.

However, in real life, decent people commit heinous crimes in desperate situations. I was considering writing a scene in which my two MCs rob a house and hold its owners at gunpoint because they'll starve to death without money and food.

Will this ruin the integrity of my characters? Will using this device make them appear more realistic, but turn them into villians and cause my readers to dislike them?

[Shady Lane]

I think that'll be awesome.

[reenkam]

If you make it believable it'll be fine.

[DeadlyAccurate]

Depends on how you write the scene. Do they feel guilty for what they're doing? Have them apologize repeatedly for it. Show how scared they are, and how much they wish they weren't doing it. They could promise to pay the homeowners back when they can. You'll get across that they feel they have no choice.

Do you instead want them to be cold-hearted criminals? Well, then you have to give them other likable traits to make up for it. I've found that being funny works.

Think of the anti-heroes in movies. Like Captain Jack Sparrow. We watch him steal with absolutely no remorse, and we adore him for it. Jason Bourne and James Bond kill, and we cheer for them.

[Azraelsbane]

I like it. Good people do crazy things when pushed to the limits.

One of my protag MCs actually becomes an assassin for the other side because it is the only way she can come up with enough money for the medical treatment that her son needs to survive. Living the double life practically destroys her.

[JoNightshade]

Les Miserables is based on the premise of a guy stealing bread.

[JohnDavidPaxton]

I love the premise of good people doing bad things to achieve good ends. That being said, I can't swing with the idea that concept you're giving me.

People rob houses all the time, why is the MC doing it while the person is there? That rarely, rarely happens.

If the MC has a gun, why can't they just pawn it for food?

Is the MC so desperate that they'd rob a place without casing it? Why would they rob a house at gunpoint instead of, say, jack someone on the street, which involves much less risk?

I apologize if you think I'm being a thorn in your side, but these are the questions I'd ask. If you can answer them? Then you damn well BETTER write the scene because it would be fascinating.

[Spiny Norman]

You've got to make the transition really realistic. If they're desperate, we have to know they're really desperate beforehand. Eating garbage and sleeping in ditches. And I don't think desperate guys can have the resources to get guns. A knife or a lead pipe I can understand, and if they're really desperate they can hit the father of the household or whoever it should be, but desperate has a much stronger connotation than I think we're giving it now.

[DeadlyAccurate]

One thing you could do is have them break into a house in the middle of the day, expecting it to be empty, but finding the homeowner is home sick.

Our neighbor's teenage son was held up at shotgun point in his home in the afternoon a few weeks ago. This situation was a little different from what you're talking about, because the only thing the guys took was their plasma TV, leading me to think the guys knew exactly what they were after.

[LJ Hall]

I agree with John. There are so many alternative ways to steal for money. Holding people at gunpoint is so unusual that many career break-in artists don't even carry guns.

John's right. If they have a gun, they have instant cash from some pawn shop. If they're willing to break in to a house, they should be smart enough to do it when the house is empty.

I think the trouble is that we read and watch so many movies and books with such extreme violence that we forget how traumatic it is simply being threatened with a gun. I used to work the night shift at a gas station, I have experience with the basic trauma of being threatened. A person doesn't have to be mangled or tortured or raped to feel permanently traumatised. A gun is enough to do it.

So don't underthink the situation. I'm not saying there's no way to do it, but if there are alternatives that don't involve your good guys possibly destroying the lives of innocent people, I'd use them.

[HopelessDreamer]

Thanks for the responses; I'll explain myself more clearly to see if my situation is believable...

My characters are exiled for committing crimes against their government, which is a dictatorship. They are forced into a mountainous area with a sparce population in the dead of winter. By chance, they come across a road that eventually leads to a house. Clad in only threadbare clothing and having eaten the last of their rations the day before, they realize that without provisions they'll soon die. The gun they have is old and rusty, and they don't have any bullets. They're basically bluffing when they hold the family at gunpoint and steal from them.

[TheIT]

All right, in the situation you've described, HopelessDreamer, why wouldn't they simply ask for help first? Do they decide to commit a crime after being turned away? Would the family in the house be willing to be charitable to starving strangers?

This is beginning to remind me of Jean Valjean in Les Miserables when the priest helps him, then Valjean turns around and robs him. If I remember correctly, the priest gave him what he stole on condition he used it for good.

[JohnDavidPaxton]

Thanks for the responses; I'll explain myself more clearly to see if my situation is believable...

My characters are exiled for committing crimes against their government, which is a dictatorship. They are forced into a mountainous area with a sparce population in the dead of winter. By chance, they come across a road that eventually leads to a house. Clad in only threadbare clothing and having eaten the last of their rations the day before, they realize that without provisions they'll soon die. The gun they have is old and rusty, and they don't have any bullets. They're basically bluffing when they hold the family at gunpoint and steal from them.

I like it. It answers all the questions I have. They're cold, desperate, they have no currency (and it might be worthless if they did).

But it's all going to come off on the execution. I think you have a great set-up though.

Make us love, hate or identify with your characters, and no "but I would have" will enter our heads.

[HopelessDreamer]

Thanks for the input; I'm glad it's flowing together a bit more easily now. Unfortunately I seem to be horrible at explaining my situation! My characters will ask for the necessary provisions first, but having little extra for themselves, the family will deny them. With no alternative, they steal from the family.

I had no intention of stealing my situation from Les Miserables. I've actually never read it, nor have I heard of the situation of Jean Valjean stealing bread from a priest. Is it too similar?

[Horseshoes]

Nah, it's not too similar. Good luck with your story.

[TheIT]

I had no intention of stealing my situation from Les Miserables. I've actually never read it, nor have I heard of the situation of Jean Valjean stealing bread from a priest. Is it too similar?

Sorry, I didn't mean to imply you were stealing the situation. You might want to look into it as something parallel to what you're trying to accomplish. I've only seen the musical, but from what I recall, Jean Valjean was imprisoned for stealing a loaf of bread to feed his starving family. He escapes and is taken in by a priest who nurses him back to health. Valjean then tries stealing the silver from the church so he can start a new life with the money, but the priest catches him. The priest lets him go with the silver but exacts a promise from Valjean that he'll use the money to do good. The promise affects Valjean's actions for the rest of the story. Valjean is a good man who is forced to commit thefts in order to help his family and then to help himself. The actions make sense for him, i.e. "are realistic", based on who he is.

What I'm wondering about your characters is how they would react in the situation you've described. Would they immediately throw off civilization and attempt to take what they need through force, or would they first try to ask for help? Would they put themselves ahead of those they're trying to steal from? What's "realistic" for them depends on who they are. Whether I as a reader am sympathetic to their actions depends on what they do and for what reasons. I don't know your characters well enough to decide right now.