My latest writing endeavor has two basic questions: Can a child harbor the thoughts of a murderer and or serial killer? and Can they change their ways or are they just a "bad seed"?
It is based on the play/movie The Bad Seed, in which a child committs a murder. The characters in the play beat around the bush the whole time, and the child acts innocent as hell.
"Of Course she would never do such a thing...look at that face...and those pigtails. So cute."
But pigtails and fancy dresses have nothing to do with murder. Murder, and the...art, or should I say, act, is purely psychological. Today, we've come a long way. The human mind is not such a big threat anymore. Yet, in some cases it still remains an enemy.
In my story, a child committs a murder. But the girl is older than the girl in the original movie. She's twelve, and she should no better. Her father, knowing that his beloved "princess" was the mastermind behind the heinous crimes, accepts fault for her actions. He is assigned the death penalty: the harshest punishment for murder.
Through taking the death penalty, he hopes that his daughter will change her ways. However, that is not the case. The girl still wreaks havoc whereever she goes, killing to get what she wants, without even an ounce of remorse.
Her father then appears to her as a ghost, demanding vengeance. He haunts her for her crimes. But most importanty, he haunts himself....for letting his daughter get away with such an act.
He asks himself: Is it possible, perhaps, that she has no heart? That she cannot fathom what human compassion and love really is?
You know about the creative writing site, right?
writing.progressiveu.org
~C
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I have a suggestion for your plot line... one you don't have to take.
A lot of children really do suffer from behavioral and psychiatric disorders (bipolar, schizophrenia, auditory and visual hallucinations). Maybe while writing your story, you could do some research into psychiatric disorders in children and adolescents. A big twist could come at the end when she discovers her father's ghost was nothing more than a hallucination?
Good luck with your writing!
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Specifically look into a disease called antisocial personality disorder. It is the lack of emotional response and the lack of understanding of social norms. It is a rare disorder however there have been numerous serial killers/murders diagnosed with it. They simple feel nothing while killing another person...answering your question "can my character lack a heart" with a resounding yes.
Personally, I'd lose the ghost angle...it brings down your audience a lot and furthermore takes readers out of the "real world" and makes it more fantasy geared. I know its just ghosts but in a story as serious as what you seem to be talking about ghost would really detract I think.
For some research that is easy to get and entertaining...watch Showtime's Dexter.
Best of luck
Clarity question; does the father say that he's the one that committed the murder or does he simply take parental responsibility (as sometimes happen when parents are charged with a crime when their children commit crimes)? If it's the latter, you may want to refine the death penalty angel; as the death penalty wouldn't realistically be given as punishment in such a case.
As T_Time pointed out, the ghost angel makes it less believable. You might consider giving him prison time, only to have them reunited so that his internal conflict (being haunted by the crimes of his daughter) is more believable.
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~Fallon~
"If I fall asleep with a pen in my hand, don't remove it - I might be writing in my dreams."- Pace
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The father actually turns himself in for the crimes of his daughter. No one else (except him, of course) knows that he is innocent.