I am about to dig deep into a thought no one should ever have to delve into, and that is rape. Over the course of the last month we have had two shows depicting rape that have unsettled viewers: one from Game of Thrones and the other from Outlander. Now I am not going to criticize either show, because I have not seen them, nor do I really care to, details are not necessary for me as a reader, viewer or a writer. I believe in leaving some details to the imagination of the reader. Far more important on the subject of rape is its weaving into the story as a whole for a purpose. So why am I delving into this now?
Back in 2010 I released the first three stories on my planned nineteen story mythology. This trilogy can stand on its own and provides an exciting and moving story. When completed my readers suggested they didn’t want it to end, so I interjected a thought on the continuation of the story, but from a much different perspective. The premise, only disclosed to my beta readers had them excited, but now I have to deliver as a writer.
In 2013, I began to write the next series of nine stories dealing with the fall of entire worlds. Now watching Game of Thrones, you have an idea of a world in complete chaos, where everyone dies, good or bad. However, my stories deal with both sides of good and evil, and interjects a creator and fallen immortals. There is the darkness and there is the light. So why destroy worlds and all its inhabitants? For salacious entertainment, or entertaining thoughts deep into our very nature of being, faith, and why bad things happen to good people. Remember I am weaving a story, not a religion or doctrine.
In the first story of these nine in the next series I deal with the fall of a young man through the direct influence of evil. In his madness, he mistakes an innocent young woman as the love who spurned him, and he holds her prisoner and rapes her. I do not go into detail. I care not to. I only use the word “defile” to lead the reader to the evil act. Surely somewhere in your life you’ve seen or read about rape, will repeating it over again make it any less vile or more entertaining? This why I chose not to go into detail. Use your imagination if you must, but concentrate on how the rape affects the young woman.
Even in the moment of her despair, the heroine has to rise to the aid and protection of very young children also taken prisoner, not to be raped, just that the young man’s insanity believes them to be his own children. Upon her rescue she has to deal with the issue of her rape. Is she pregnant, does she want to live, did she contribute to her rape or did others, will another man ever love her again? Unique to my story is that this is the first living being having to deal with the first moral dilemma. The young man has to deal with the first moral judgement. In the middle, is an immortal about to fall from grace from his meddling in mortal affairs, and he watches carefully over the emotions and frailties of the creators beloved mortals.
As a man, this section of my story is difficult to express in the narrative. Do I linger too long on her emotions, or move quickly away from it? Currently I am at 160,000 words, my largest work to date. What I chose to do was not focus on the destruction of the woman’s virtue and innocence, but the ability to rise above it and continue to live and love. So without going into too much detail the heroine of this story has to deal with tragedy twice for the ending cannot be good if it is the fall of a world.
Or will it be all bad? As a writer I plan to have certain themes in each story with little hints of upcoming events that will occur in the future stories. If you have read the trilogy, then you know the ending, but you don’t know the whole journey, for it is still developing in my mind.
The first book in my trilogy was titled, “Rise of the Fallen” and had a dual meaning. For as darkness is rising, so is the light, wherever evil appears it is counter-balanced by good. And this thought should provide comfort.
Sound off, what story have you read that tastefully deals with the topic of rape, and introduces a heroine not succumbed by the act?
