I open this up for discussion or you can just read my opinion and ponder. Maybe keep in mind while you're reading my stories.

Moral dilemmas are a great source of drama and tension in a story. And having your readers question their own morals and try to judge the situations your characters are facing and their reactions is a great way to pull them into the story. Often our characters or plot don't align with our own ethics/ morals as the author, but we have to do our best to stay true to the character/plot.

I find, for myself at least, the biggest difference of morality between myself and my characters occurs in the case of non-human/ supernatural characters. For example witches, vampires, werewolves, fae. As a species and culture they each have their own code of ethics and moral decency, most of which don't line up with my own (often those of human kind either). For myself, it is easier for me to look a a situation and say "in my world, that's bad. But I recognize it's okay in their world". I learned about an anthropology principle in school called Cultural Relativism. Basically; don't judge a culture based on your own cultures standards (Flip side of this would be Ethnocentrism, google it for definition).

For example; Vampires feeding from humans without permission would break most people moral codes, an immortal being who is 2 millenniums old dating a high school girl is a common trope but kind of like pedophilia, fae feeding humans either food to keep them trapped is basically kidnapping and forced confinement.
All things that human culture would deem unacceptable but is perfectly normal in supernatural worlds.

Similar dilemmas can be found within the human species when crossing cultural boundaries. For (not to serious) example, as a Canadian, it was culturally accepted when I choose to circumcise my son. Many people, especially European. have expressed that it is such an accepted practice where they come from. Another example is that in Canada we take our shoes off when entering a house, apparently that's not a world wide thing.

The problem lies in the few cases I have experienced where readers have been unable or unwilling to excuse supernatural behavior that is normal to them. Like a vampire sucking someone dry or a wolf killing a rival in a alpha challenge. It become a tough decision between making something people are comfortable reading and being true to the vision/ cultural norms of your characters and world.

Discussion Questions

1. Is it acceptable to excuse immoral behavior because we acknowledge cultural/ species differences?
2. Do you find it easy or difficult to do so?
3. Do you find it hard to enjoy stories that contain elements you feel are immoral? Does it make a difference if it's a cultural difference? A supernatural difference?
4. Can you accept a difference at face value or do you need an explanation on why it is acceptable in their culture/world ?
5. Have you had this dilemma in your own writing? How did you deal with it?