: Re: Can I assume readers will root for my protagonist in a man vs. beast story? I am writing a short Sci-Fi story centered entirely on the man vs. beast narrative where the protagonist attempts

@Mendez196

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I think you must motivate him. For all I know, he is a villain, and you might be trying to save that as a surprise ending -- I've been rooting against one monster that is just following his nature to get a meal, for a worse monster that will destroy many lives! Thus I withhold my sympathy.

A character doesn't have to have loved ones waiting for him. Humans are valuable (or not) for their sentiments and sympathies. We do not survive alone, that is our nature, we form groups of collective action to survive. Compared to other beasts, we are too slow, too weak, with hardly any natural defenses or weapons like claws and teeth, stingers or venom, all we have is our brains, anticipation, and the coordination of efforts they provide.

The people we like contribute and share, the people we hate do the opposite, they are selfish, they take more than their share, they engage in exploitation and harm for selfish gain or pleasure.

All you need to make your character sympathetic is to put him in his situation for an altruistic or collective reason, instead of a selfish reason. e.g. He is studying the forest to understand why trees are dying, and how to reverse it. You are right that your character needs no reason to fear and run from the beast, but readers DO need a reason to root for the man instead of the beast.

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