Forgiving of a crime

So here's an obstacle that's coming up in my writing...

My main character is a magical kind of bird, and these birds are ruled by a single leader. When this leader becomes the leader, he or she must choose an apprentice that will become leader after him or her. My main character is a perfect candidate to become the leader's apprentice, and so is another bird. Both birds dream of becoming the leader's apprentice.

The main character is jealous of the other bird, and when he is chosen as leader's apprentice instead of her, her jealousy soars. Then she learns that he secretly talked with the leader, and the leader gave him advice that would help him become the leader's apprentice. Learning this, my main character is enraged, and kills the new leader's apprentice.

Naturally her people are outraged when they find out, and they exile her. At this point, there is a savage war going on between these birds and the five other species of animals in the country.

Now, let's say my main character is one of the several animals who brings the war to peace (and this is an achievement that earns glory for all of the other peace-bringing animals). Would it be believable that the main character would be forgiven by her people enough to be chosen to represent her people on a mission to a neighboring country?

So. Hopefully that all made sense. ^^; Let me know if it doesn't and I'll try to rephrase it.

I'd say it depends on the culture that these birds have. Are they, in general, forgiving? How severe is the crime of murder in their eyes? How much do they revere their heroes?

Also, precisely how do they pick individuals to represent them on missions like the one you speak of?

Hmm... in general they aren't forgiving, and are rather closed-minded as well. At one point, they were allied with a species of ravens, but when the birds found out that the ravens planned to make the other races equal instead of dominating them, which was the birds' intentions, the birds quickly hated the ravens. The murder is a severe crime to them, but worse than the murder is the fact that the main character lied for so long about it. The lying is probably considered worse than the murder; I think, had the main character not lied about it, the bird would eventually have accepted it as a horrible mistake on the main character's part. Heroes... that I've never thought about. I'm not sure; I'll have to create some history for this country and see how it plays out.

The individuals would be chosen by the leader, and the leader is one of the most affected by the main character's actions... so probably the main character would only be chosen for this mission if it was seen as some kind of punishment, in which case this mission is not something almost noble as it is to the rest of the races. So the birds probably don't value their heroes that much.

I'm starting to think that the only way for the main character to redeem herself of this crime is to die. o.o; It really is her fault, and she might not have meant to kill him, but she certainly wanted him to hurt... she could think herself out of the guilt, but really she deserves the guilt...

Is it necessary for the character to be redeemed?

Technically no, but she's the main character and I want her story to have an overall happy ending. Or at the very least an optimistic, "everything will be okay eventually" feeling at the end of her story.

Bringing peace to the land isn't a happy enough ending?

In any case, I wouldn't expect forgiveness for the crime, given what you've said about the murder, and just from my own opinion. I don't know if I'm just getting the wrong impression from the description you've provided, but it sounds like the leader liked that other guy better (since he was willing to give the guy advice), and then the female character just flipped out and killed him. Which is, uh... kind of really not cool. The fact that she went out and killed a bunch of other people, whether or not that resulted in peace, wouldn't make me any less inclined to see her as unstable and potentially dangerous to have around, regardless of "hero" status.

Sandstone-Shadow said:

Technically no, but she's the main character and I want her story to have an overall happy ending. Or at the very least an optimistic, "everything will be okay eventually" feeling at the end of her story.

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Well, is it necessary for her to be sent on this mission, or even forgiven at all, for there to be an optimistic feeling to the end? You haven't been describing this bird society as being all that likeable; I think I would find the ending more depressing if she ended up going back so that she can diplomatically represent a group that openly wants to oppress other races than if she just left them and found a new life for herself. Provided, of course, that she felt remorse for what she did and all that so that the reader could forgive her before that happens.

Negrek said:

Bringing peace to the land isn't a happy enough ending?

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Hmm. This is true, though it's not peaceful for long; one of the main reasons the war is halted is because there's a greater threat outside their country that they have to deal with.

In any case, I wouldn't expect forgiveness for the crime, given what you've said about the murder, and just from my own opinion. I don't know if I'm just getting the wrong impression from the description you've provided, but it sounds like the leader liked that other guy better (since he was willing to give the guy advice), and then the female character just flipped out and killed him.

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That's a fairly accurate summary of what happened, yes... though there was a lot of tension between the pair to begin with, so it's not like she just went and killed him on a whim. That was sort of the climax.

The fact that she went out and killed a bunch of other people, whether or not that resulted in peace, wouldn't make me any less inclined to see her as unstable and potentially dangerous to have around, regardless of "hero" status.

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I'll keep this in mind. She won't be killing very much in the war, though...

Butterfree said:

Well, is it necessary for her to be sent on this mission, or even forgiven at all, for there to be an optimistic feeling to the end? You haven't been describing this bird society as being all that likeable; I think I would find the ending more depressing if she ended up going back so that she can diplomatically represent a group that openly wants to oppress other races than if she just left them and found a new life for herself.

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I think I made the society out to be worse than it really is, but if I twist it so it is as horrible as it sounds, then this would be a really interesting route to take... =D

Provided, of course, that she felt remorse for what she did and all that so that the reader could forgive her before that happens.

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This is a big part of my problem, I think. I want the readers to forgive her, but I can't find a way to make her deserve the forgiveness. She is remorseful for what she's done, but that still doesn't change the fact that she did it, and I don't think just having her feel bad about what she did is going to evoke much sympathy from readers. This is what's making me feel that the only way for her to redeem herself is to die. Though maybe not... maybe she could teach or something, after she's sure she's stable, and teach them certain things about jealousy and such, to try to prevent what she did from happening again. Or something like that?

Readers can and do frequently forgive mass-murdering protagonists. Portray her as likable and she likely will be.

Would she be able to live with one of the other races that do appreciate her efforts?