There are a lot of factions floating about now that involve society. These can be religious factions, political factions, social factions, racial factions... you name it.
For instance, in the USA, we have two major political ideologies that vary from party to party and person to person. There are the conservatives and liberals and they have very different responses to various issues. And they have different mindsets as well. Because of these different mindsets, there is genuine conflict between these two groups. Add all the rest of the factions that are floating around and we have a country that allows for many disagreements and gray areas of what society believes. Because of all these groups and subgroups bouncing off of each other, there is an uncertain aspect on everything which is only heightened by the excellent communication we have with each other.
The less factions there are, the more uniform everything is. And there is no such thing as a uniform society. So we have all these factions because all of us are different.
Still, we can still agree on certain issues. Within groups, there are going to be things that are considered right and there are going to be things considered wrong. So you'll find that abortion is taboo for Catholics, yet acceptable for other various other groups. And then there are some issues that nearly everyone agrees with. For instance, Murder is Wrong. Now, what the definition of murder is may vary according to group to group, but in general, killing a person is wrong.
So! What does that rant have to do with characters?
Different places have different factions that have different mindsets. You may think that sex before marriage is horrible, but if you create a fantasy story where there are no marriages... well, then sex before marriage is probably going to be completely acceptable. Fiction means we can bend rules everywhere, just as long as they make sense.
So think about it. What kind of society does your story have, especially if you're writing a sci fi or a fantasy.
Keep thinking...
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Okay! What's your society in your story like?
Society's Influences
44 posts in this topic.
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Again, I don't think I can bend the fictional rules as much as I'd like.
I have to stick to a certain degree of rules in the non-fiction sense but I'll give it another go.
The atmosphere I'm writing about is that the Colonists want, more or less, to be represented equally by Parliament, and the citizens want to be allowed to finalized their own laws, religions, etc. without their King's domineering influence. Every Colonist have different mindsets on achieving Independence, where others are against treason. So, eventually two groups emerged - Tory (Loyalist) and Whigs (Patriot in later years). These two groups stirred serious trouble among each other especially. Family, friends, acquaintances, any type of bonds are divided. Spitting, tar and feathering, burning houses, writing thought-provoking opinions in newspapers and pamphlets, etc. were just a few practices in achieving desired goals. Think of it this way, because of the two different groups in Revolutionary America, a question rose among the people: Which side of the fence are you on? It was as if a fire sprung on its own, and fed itself.
So, I'm not sure if I succeeded in answering the question but the society in my story is a charged one. I hope you enjoyed a very brief description of it. -
*blinks* I've known this for years.
Sex: it's open, as long as it's a privite area or public one where it's accepted. birth control is readily available
Thievery: if you msut to survive, and you steal from a rich man, it might be overlooked in a court of law
Murder: for self-defense only, and even then you'd have to appeal at the capital for your name to be cleared
Religion: religion is open and free, as long as it does not interfere with the other laws. many people do not have a religion, but just adhere to common morals.
Abuse: if somebody hits their child for being an idiot, then it's overlooked. but child sexual and physical abusers - the serious ones - are looked down upon as the lowest form of society.
Marriage: you can marry more than one man or woman, but only with approval from all parties and the local council. adultry is grounds for termination of the marriage, but if the other party can forgive then no punishment is issued.
The Average Family: A couple, married or not, living in a city near the capital. They have half a dozen kids and make enough to buy their needs, as well as bit a extra. But the wealth does not compare to our finery, with TV's in every room, etc.
War is common - in fact, war is almost always raging the countryside. Which is why people group in overlapping, over-crowded cities. Swords, knives, and archery are favored, as there are only around a 100 guns...ever...
Um, I think this is thorough enough, although I have maps and govermental setups and royal history =] =] -
Great points, Snoink!
My society is a little more commonplace, as I don't write fantasy and I (personally) can't bend the rules of society. Augh, Snoink this really is difficult. Give me sometime to think about this. I'll figure it out inside my head and then manage putting it into words. -
FREAK is set in a democracy. Since this is a big country with plenty of cultures clashing with each other, this is a democracy with representatives. Think the USA. Anyway, any free man (not woman) can vote. There are no racial conflicts. The society is mostly white, since people of other colors are considered freaks and most freaks that look considerably different have been sent away.
Upper-class women are not allowed to have a voice in government and are considered to be property of the men they live with. Arranged marriages are not uncommon and, for wealthy families, are considered essential. They are encouraged to stay virgins until their marriages. Once in their marriage, they are not allowed to stray. If they do commit adultery, they risk being named a freak and sent away.
People of lower-class, though they don't have much of a say, are considerably more freer. If they try to get out of their class and into the upper-class, they risk being considered too strange, which also might get them sent away, but usually gets them imprisoned instead.
Murder of older humans (five years and up) is consider taboo and the offender risks prison. For lesser crimes, the offenders, if they are men, can also face prison or, if the victim chooses, an indentured servitude for the victim for a certain amount of time decided by the courts. An indentured servant can be sold off to others, but he keeps his name and the time sentence is not altered.
Slavery is strictly outlawed.
Then there are the freaks, which are the lowest class possible. They are not considered human and are used for labor or sex.
And yeah. That's a snippet. XD -
Wow. 0_0 Impressive.
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Uhkay so here we go:
My story is modern, set in NY, Edinburg and London (with blurbs from Ireland). However, since it's (in general) narrated from the eyes of a 19 year old male prostitute (go figure), the morals in the story are...askew, to say the least. Murder is something that makes him slightly uneasy, prostitution is yucky but normal. Drugs are something he delves into, but not too often, although his best friend is a hardcore speed addict. Laws are something to be manuvered around, when possible, and when not possible, fled from.
However, when the narrative switches from [Jack] to the Scottish Patriots, who are trying to free themselves from the english parliment and become a free-ruling country in themselves, the morals are different. Homosexuality is a disgrace, sex out of marriage is lovely, when attainable, and no length is too far a length to get what they want. Not murder or slavery or kidnapping...nothing. -
Simply...
Futuristic anarchy; nations collapsed and in their place something rather like the Italian city states dot the world - though even less in order than those.
Commerce, economy is all underground, black market; laws are the caprice of the 'barons' of the states, excepting those who deal in weapons and the technology of war. Barons, as a rule, resolve differences in gladiatorial 'games', contests of a violent nature no matter - and play them to make differences as well as to resolve.
History is scorned. Unity as a nation is old, verboten as far as common recollection.
Anarchy rules the majority; working for a baron puts you into a nearly military capacity with a taste of indentured servant.
Murder has no rooted legal normality as wrong or right - usually. But few human beings will ever consider it an inherent good.
Marriage is a matter between two people, some tradition; religion doesn't come much into it beyond fringe. Roman Catholicism has survived; its constituents are scarce. Cults spring up - human nature looks somewhere for meaning or truth. All such is generally regarded with nonplussed distraction or patronising dismissal.
Beyond mere conflict between states, riot or revolt is scarce - too bleak a prospect and too little to inspire or remind what would compensate the risk.
The time's attitude on the whole is what happens happens.
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Bare bones there, and distracted somewhat. So far, the conflict in the story is hardly anything to do with society in that the background is not a star actor in said drama. But with how meandering the working out of it's been, who can tell where it'll end, or change. -
Brief summary: Kingdoms/Queendoms. Monarchy's all round. Special and upper to lower class tensions. Guilds, of magic, thieves, assassins= seedy underworld. City(s) protected by the Royal Guard which has its own judicial system. Matters are rarely brought before the king and or queen.
Overall=typical fantasy world from which anything or character can spring. -
VIRGINIA:
Most of the story takes place in Virginia (what would have in reality been Colonial America) which is currently split into Upper, Middle, and Lower provinces- plus the backwoods Auxiliary Province.
My middle and lower classes are both largely Puritan. They have no say in government.
My upper class is split into two- the Imperialists and the Parliamentarians.
Imperialists are for a new Empire; Parliamentarians want to copy the English government but still want the freedom of their own.
The difference?
IMPERIALISTS:
- Morals and such are modern. (Nothing's really on the hush-hush level, that is to say.)
- Wealth is displayed and flaunted (dances every night? Why not!). Think Hancock.
- Mainly Protestant.
PARLIAMENTARIANS:
- Morals reflect those of the Puritans. There's a lot more of the taboo aspect than there is for the Imperialists. (Think Victorian society.)
- Wealth is kept in moderate secrecy.
- Mainly Catholic.
And then there are the Anglicans (the aristocracy who still supports England), but most of them have been murdered by the time the story starts. Mr. Barclett is the only legitimate Anglican in my story, so I don't really need to go into that a whole lot. Luke doesn't become one until much, much later.
Servants and slaves are considered a part of their master or mistress. (That is, if the master goes down, the servants go down too.) Only the lowest of the low can be servants- think the Untouchables. Sometimes masters (such as the Verplancks) can accept servants into their family. This is very rare, although when it does happen, it grants the servants a little bit of luxury and freedom.
Virginia is in the middle of a war with England that will separate the two if the Empire wins (Empire= Virginia, for future reference). Sound familiar? Problem: Virginia has the better troops. England's finest are off in Russia fighting Czar Vladimir the Esteemed (hahahaha. Name subject to change), who has threatened to annex the British-controlled Siberia and give it to to France. And then France will...
Okay, you get the point. -
For the first time, I actually set up an entire goverment heirarchy before beginning my novel 'Feather and Stone.' It's pretty well thought-out, and relatively complex, too. This is just a vague overview.
It's set in the Six Realms, though technically there are seven - Turgadarn is considered both separate and a part of the Realms, and has a completely different government structure than the one I'm about to describe. Each Realm is then divided into either five or seven shires, depending on size. The shires are governed over by Governors, who are desa'do'dera - wingless, and without magic. The post of Governor, like most in the Six Realms, is not necessarily hereditary but tends to run in that vein.
The next definitive step in the heirarchy is the Seneschal, who governs the Realm as a whole and oversees the Governors; he also selects them. (Government officials are universally male.) The Seneschals, unlike their subordinates, are wizards (and winged); most are native to their respective Realm, but all were educated at the university in Turgadarn.
The Seneschals are chosen for life terms by the ultimate power in the Six Realms, the High Sovereign (more commonly known as the m'Lord). The High Sovereign is selected either before or directly after birth by the Council of Seers in Turgadarn, who can sense his nascent powers; he is raised from infancy at the university and groomed for the position. This, therefore, is the only post that is generally not inherited. His duty is not only to oversee the success of the Six Realms and Turgadarn as a whole, but also to control weather patterns in such a way as to guarantee better harvests and fewer natural disasters, though not all are avoidable. As he is a wizard and more powerful than most, the High Sovereign generally lives to be around two hundred years of age; their terms usually run about one hundred to one hundred fifty years, due to overlap.
In terms of a military: each shire has its own local guard; each Realm has its own militia, which is entirely separate from the local guard; and collectively, the Army of the Realms is made up of specially trained soldiers and, if needed, conscripts from the militias.
Turgadarn is largely ruled by the Circle of Elders (the most powerful wizards aside from the m'Lord) in conjunction with the Council of Seers; their Seneschal is really only a liaison to the m'Lord. No one in the other Six Realms is ever really sure what goes on in Turgadarn, and relations are very strained between it and its counterparts. -
(A note: Strazhas and/or the Strazhad are spies who follow and usually end up assassinating whoever it is that the government considers a threat at that particular point in time.)
Um... Okay.
"The Chair of Wind and Darkness" is Fantasy because of the surreality of the ultimate theme, but the society it portrays is really not that alien, I don't think.
It's set in the Republic of Sheodin, in which the capital city is Barduev. It has a relatively Socialist feel to it as far as you work for the good of the State and when you no longer have anything to offer you end up finding yourself unemployed. Though the term 'Republic' denotes a senate where matters are looked at objectively and voted upon, the senate in Sheodin is largely 'in the pockets', so to speak, of the military commanders (the Head of the Strazhad, the Kasimoval Idai, the Lord Sovereign (a office that started out as a military honor). In short, law and society in general in Sheodin is very military-based.
Hence marriage and sex and so forth is not especially something the governing powers much care about. Even when it comes to violence - rape, for instance - the government would only do something about it if the victim was the daughter of someone important. In this way, society is very largely dependent on those in the upper echelons of society.
Upper class people have an enormous amount of import in Sheodin. Often, they are linked to some sort of illegal criminal activity (smuggling or whatever) and are never arrested for it, as they have great connections among the governing officials. In certain cases, the wealthy and influential have more power over the Strazhas than the military commanders - scary, for the military commanders. o.O The meth-maritime (the navy in Sheodin) has remained largely uncorrupted in this society, the navy being somewhat removed and isolated from the general workings of the main military.
Law enforcement is very subtle and behind the scenes. Very rarely do law enforcement officials show up to arrest a person... more often he is stalked by Strazhas and ultimately executed. Trials aren't an option - if the government feels you've done something wrong, likely you'll be hunted and dead by morning.
(Sweet place, huh? ^_~)
There is a good deal of politics in everyday life, political games that even common people have to play to get anywhere. It's best to have something of a military background in Sheodin - the problem is that conscription is so rampant that unless you cone form a very influential family, you have very little distinction and hence very little chance of advancement and/or becoming a high-ranking officer.
The majority of revolutions that have occurred in Sheodin have never really succeeded, as the powers that be are so quick to crush any sign of civil disobedience. (Hence the incident at Aeiso, for those of you who've read it...)
So yeah... think bleak for the proletariat and grand for the upper class and a highly idolized military and you've got a vague idea of Sheodin. ^_~ -
Oh my... I usually shy away from this subject...... I don't really know enough about government systems to create my own. I'm putting it off.
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Joeducktape wrote:Oh my... I usually shy away from this subject...... I don't really know enough about government systems to create my own. I'm putting it off.
It's a little difficult at first to grasp this, but it does help. And no, you don't have to know the exact political systems or anything -- your characters probably won't care -- but especially in a sci fi or fantasy world, it's important to keep in mind.
For example, if you have a world that sex is commonplace and everything, it's silly to have a girl who has sex for the first time and immediately thinks, "My life is complete!" It's just not going to happen. Why? Society doesn't care about it. Now that's a really weird example, but I can't think of anything else, really, on the top of my head. You don't have to have history books and political science books written about your land, but a basic knowledge on how everything works is essential. -
Being in a Historical Fiction story, like Fishr, doesn't give me a chance to create my own society, but it gives me perhaps a harder job -- representing a society I have to understand only through books and media representation. However, it can affect my characters all the same.
Generally, the society and heirarchy in my book revolves around the ship's command, since most of the book is in around the Royal Navy. Thus, the society that most affects my characters is the one they're most exposed to -- a good half of my characters are persons in the service.
There is therefore an obvious chain of command. It goes from Commissioned Officers to Warrant Officers to Petty Officers to Seamen. The Captain is the God and decides everything and anything that goes on in the ship. While receiving his commands from the Admiralty, he is given free reign to command as he sees fit. His Lieutenants, ranked in order of seniority, relay his commands and keep order, keeping watch etc. The midshipmen are mostly learners, low in experience and actual command, they simply are there to learn to be useful. The warrant officers, such as the Boatswain and the Master had specific duties essentially important to the ship's survival. While holding little in command, they do have an assortment of shipmates at their disposal to carry out their specific duty. The heriarchy on the ship helps it keep disciplined -- significant in a fighting service -- and makes the men alert and work hard.
Therefore the main society in my novel is that of autocracy. You cannot question the Captain or any other officer's command, or you are punished by flogging or other means. It's a harsh society for those on the bottom rung, who live in bad conditions, often forced from their homes, to work bone-breaking tasks all day long with little rest and poor pay.
The late 18th-century is a place of cruelty and oppression. Larger nations and empires crush smaller ones, and claim ownership over lands. Slavery is commonplace in Europe -- the rich slave market still stems from Africa to Portugal and Spain and the newly-fledged America. England, which has nominally slowed its slave trade but it is still active, and slavery itself is universally accepted and expected. Many care neither way. Few, like the Quakers, think it despicable, but many in power find it profitable and useful.
The society of the West Indies are entirely based on two things -- the production of rum and sugar cane, and human slavery. Slavery was integral to Caribbean economy. The population consists of the white ruling classes and the black slaves beneath them. Discipline is kept with the musket and the sword, and despite the much larger number of blacks, rebellions are few and far between. Between the whites and the blacks there are toher clases such as the "maroons" who were runaway slaves who had escaped the chains of slavery. Some remained free on special conditions. Other slaves managed to buy their way from their masters and lived a hard independent life on the isles, often rejected by both the whites and the blacks, as they were seen to be "fraternising" with the hated white rulers. The ruling class itself was divided into the aristocracy (mainly those appointed by the Crown ie. the Governor, and the plantation owners who used the slaves to collect sugar) and the poorer whites who lived on the isles, but had poor plantations or other occupations. There were also the Army garrisons and the Navy who held their expected respect.
Piracy is another factor in society -- sometimes going hand-in-hand with slavery. The threat of piracy in the Caribbean isles is responded to by the Navy, who hunted down pirates without mercy or quarter.
The other main factor in the society is the revolving alliances and wars going on at the time between the colonising nations such as France, Holland, Portugal, Britain and Spain. The constant influx of war meant that islands swapped sides regularly. This constant spectre of war has an affect on the atmosphere of the place.
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