Do they ever learn?

[TheRedChamber]

A nice comment from @Lotus_Kitty today on one of my stories that's a year or so old.

Forgot to add something quite important, that Hannah needs to respect a no. The first time! Especially a hard no. That would have been a great time to tell Ben that it's fine if he doesn't want to play but how does he feel about her and John playing? He'd made that clear nonverbally but she still could have asked. Putting Ben on the spot later was using pressure. Never negotiate relationship boundaries in the heat of the moment. Not a criticism of the story! Good to see those two messing up so we learn from their mistakes! Good to see them learning!

And don't worry Lotus, Hannah definitely learned her lesson from that disastrous experience.

[Opens up and scans current WIP draft] What?! God-damnit, Hannah!

Do your characters ever learn?

 

[NotWise]

Yes, my characters learn. My pets learn. Even the fish in the aquarium learn. What kind of character do you have who doesn't learn?

 

[Bamagan]

Yes, my characters learn. My pets learn. Even the fish in the aquarium learn. What kind of character do you have who doesn't learn?

The comic-relief witless foil...

 

[SimonDoom]

Yes, my characters learn. My pets learn. Even the fish in the aquarium learn. What kind of character do you have who doesn't learn?

Villains, fools, and sidekicks often don't learn. They're there to provide impetus to the main character or characters to learn.

 

[TheRedChamber]

Hmm, interesting. I'd argue that more than just the sidekicks and comic relief fail to learn...

Firstly, in real life, people learn some things and not others. I certainly should have learnt by now how to maintain a healthy weight, instead of a...[glances at scale]...not so healthy one. My wife should have learnt to leave plenty of time to get to an airport. Alas, I fear she never will. We all have blind spots.

There are tons of characters who never learn in media. Characters who are stuck in patterns of addiction and self-destructive behaviour. Characters who take get-rich-quick opportunities despite having been put in mortal danger by them before. Characters who cheat on a partner who should be absolutely perfect for them...again. Characters who give the villain a second (or twelfth) chance only to be stabbed in the back yet again in sequel five act three. Often, if they did learn to change, they'd have happier lives but not be nearly so much fun to watch.

As a viewer, it can be frustrating to watch a character make the same mistakes again and again. It can, however, be fun to watch the same character make slightly different mistakes in very different circumstances, all of which stem from the same basic personality trait.

 

[lovecraft68]

Hmm, interesting. I'd argue that more than just the sidekicks and comic relief fail to learn...

Firstly, in real life, people learn some things and not others. I certainly should have learnt by now how to maintain a healthy weight, instead of a...[glances at scale]...not so healthy one. My wife should have learnt to leave plenty of time to get to an airport. Alas, I fear she never will. We all have blind spots.

There are tons of characters who never learn in media. Characters who are stuck in patterns of addiction and self-destructive behaviour. Characters who take get-rich-quick opportunities despite having been put in mortal danger by them before. Characters who cheat on a partner who should be absolutely perfect for them...again. Characters who give the villain a second (or twelfth) chance only to be stabbed in the back yet again in sequel five act three. Often, if they did learn to change, they'd have happier lives but not be nearly so much fun to watch.

As a viewer, it can be frustrating to watch a character make the same mistakes again and again. It can, however, be fun to watch the same character make slightly different mistakes in very different circumstances, all of which stem from the same basic personality trait.

Many of these characters never learn because their issues make people like them for whatever reason. The characters evolve and maybe the readers/viewers don't like them anymore.

If a broken character gets their shit together, a vengeful character finds piece, a criminal goes straight, then where's the fun?

There was a point in the Sopranos where Tony is seeing a therapist to try to change. It obviously didn't work, but had it, where would the show have gone?

Now more so than ever people embrace imperfect fucked up characters.

 

[SinclairGroupLLP]

Do your characters ever learn

Yes, but damn slowly, lol.

The MC in my series is young and I have set up the idea that his POV sections are his memoirs. He loves to point out when he’s being naive, which is quite often given what happens to him over the course of the series. Slowly, but surely, he’s getting life experience and not being so totally naive, but there are times when he reverts to form, and I sometimes use it as a humorous device.

 

[M_K_Babalon]

The comic-relief witless foil...

The ditzy slut...

 

[gunhilltrain]

The comic-relief witless foil...

Or three of them.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/193263202953

"False Alarms" (1936). The exteriors were filmed at a real Los Angles firehouse. I'm guessing that the other men in the photo are from the crew that was assigned to the location, not actors.

 

[RetroFan]

Yes, my characters learn. My pets learn. Even the fish in the aquarium learn. What kind of character do you have who doesn't learn?

Some of my main characters in my stories don't learn anything because they are sociopaths.

Like Cornelius from 'Crazy Cornelius & the Magic Pills'. In an early scene in this story series, Cornelius plays a practical joke on the grumpy elderly man across the road with whom he has had an ongoing series of disputes. This involved hiding in the bushes, then leaping out from behind playing a recording of dogs barking and throwing chocolate flavoured milk all over him. The shock of this causes the older man to fall down with a heart attack. But rather than give first aid or call an ambulance, Cornelius watches him die, then drags the body out of sight amused that the dying man has wet himself, takes his wallet and helps himself to the cash, using it to buy drugs and leaving the dead man without a qualm.

Following the chaos that ensues, Cornelius learns absolutely nothing, even when his father gets so angry that he dies of spontaneous human combustion. In the last instalment of the story he is still creating chaos everywhere, with antics such as dragging a mentally disabled boy of his tricycle then riding it around himself making motorcycle noises while the kid goes into hysterics, and selling expired raffle tickets for a kids' cancer charity and keeping the money for himself.