To each his own, at the end.  That would be me personally but even I have characters that I go ‘WTF are you doing???’ They and their minds . . . 

On the question of constant ups vs. bursts. . . .  A constant up wouldn’t be true to how real people react, imo.  Russ has had 20 years of being beaten down by the very people who were supposed to build him up . . . he will change and grow and become confident after what he goes through in this novel, but he’ll always carry the weight of 20 years (20 formative years, at that) of abuse.  There’s something to be said for “getting over it” and all, but how many people really have a linear, constant upward hike?  We make headway, only to slip back, it’s part of being human and struggling with our demons.

Now I really must stop rambling.

Anyway, I’m not even sure it would be “healthy” for him to strike out at a woman/girl in such a way, even if she’s beating him up or causing him to starve, etc. because the idea that it will make him a Bad Ugly Nasty Man is too deeply ingrained to be overcome that easily.  It’s a sort of misplaced gallantry meets stubborness; he hasn’t been told “never hit a woman” so much as told “you’re a worthless shit-head of a male so you’ll end up hitting women and abandoning them and treating them bad” and he is overly determined not to let that be true.

There will be more on this theme in the next few chapters, which . . . yes . . . I should probably be working on editing instead of rambling in the comments.

Right.

And every time I see Russ grow a set, they seem to suck right back up into his body.  If I were in that position, the pelican’s head would have been one with the wall for that food.  Shit, if I’m dead already then I’ve got nothing to lose and, really, neither does Russ.  It is hard, though, not to underestimate Russ when he dogs himself constantly.  Id’ like to see some kind of constant up with him instead of his bursts of self-worth followed by mires in self-worthlessness.

And the Ricallyn are unpleasant and I hates them.