: Re: A POV character who's a slave? I'm currently working on a novel, in which one of the POV characters is a slave. He was born to a slave (so he was born a slave) of a rich merchant family

@Kristi637

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I recently read a novel with this very theme: "The Story of Jonas". However, while the book was quite well written, I personally found that aspect of it --the slave who doesn't initially question his servitude --to be implausible. A better example might be Ursula LeGuin's The Tombs of Atuan whose main character does not initially understand that she is oppressed because she has been led to believe she is favored.

My advice to you would be to emphasize the indoctrination process. People don't come into this world believing they are born to be servile, they learn to believe it because that's what people tell them. Show how everyone around him is constantly telling your protagonist how lucky he is, and how well-treated, and how he has advanced as high up as anyone from his race and background possibly could.

Then, when he sees counter-examples to the propaganda, you can contrast those with what he has always been told. This also offers a narrative opportunity to drive a wedge between slave and beloved master, when they respond with opposite emotions and reactions to the discovery of a functional free society composed entirely of people from the protagonists' group.

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