is this okay

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I have been writing a short story. Its almost finished but Now I am having second thoughts and not sure if it is good. I wont reveal too much spoilers. But I made this Character. He or She has done something, killed someone. Lets herself get arrested to make a point. Something Political and she wants a big trial to do it.
As the Trail goes, we find horrible things happened to her and we see why she did what she did.
Then later, we realize she did some very horrible things too, to those who hurt her and their family's, shes a monster too.
I am asking, is this playing with the readers feelings too much and will piss the reader off making her into a sympathetic abused character then revealing in the end, she isn't really any better than those who hurt her.

Sounds OK to Me...

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…if the central character's motivations are clear and s/he isn't just arbitrarily going from one extreme to the other. Not that the motives have to be totally rational, but they ought to be understandable to the reader and consistent with what we've learned about his/her character.

Whether or not the story's good is a different question (g). Wouldn't hurt to find someone to check it out before you post, especially if you have doubts.

Eric

Negative Characters

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The world of literature is bulging with novels that have negative characters. The Coen brothers have made a living out of showing how making bad choices can lead to making more bad choices.

The reader wants to identify with some one. Perhaps there's one person in your story who could narrate who can be good simply by comparison.

Good luck.

Angela Rasch (Jill M I)

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