Quite recently somebody asked me what the trait I most disliked in other people was. I had no answer, but after thinking about it for a while, I decided that the worst trait wasn't a trait at all - it was the lack of a trait.

Something which defines all of the people who I surround myself with is empathy. Wikipedia says that it is "the capacity to understand or feel what another person is feeling from within their frame of reference". Something which I struggle with is being around, or voting for, or watching people who lack it. And there are plenty of those around (especially in politics)!

The world of film and literature is a good place to explore how we feel about people who lack empathy. My psychologist wife would describe them as "somewhere on the psychopathic spectrum". Game of Thrones has clear cut classic cases:

You have your John Snow, who is full of empathy to bursting point. He manages to see the world from the point of view of an entire alternate nation and go against everything he knows to help those people. He is easy to love - everyone's favourite character.

Then you have your Jamie Lannister. He doesn't have much in the way of empathy, but he is self-aware. He knows he lacks it and he tries to make amends. He is the kind of character that you can grow to love - even to the point where you happily forget that he has thrown a small child out of a castle window!

Finally there is your Cersei Lannister. Your true villain. There is no empathy there and clearly no capability within the character's personality to develop any. This is the kind of character you love to hate. The one which makes the most compelling viewing.

I think as a writer it can be very hard to see the world from the perspective of someone with no empathy, but it's something most writers will have to try at some point.

Samuel's Blog

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On Character Empathy