Relationship Thesaurus Entry: Guard and Prisoner

Successful stories are driven by authentic and interesting characters, so it’s important to craft them carefully. But characters don’t usually exist in a vacuum; throughout the course of your story, they’ll live, work, play, and fight with other cast members. Some of those relationships are positive and supportive, pushing the protagonist to positive growth and helping them achieve their goals. Other relationships do exactly the opposite—derailing your character’s confidence and self-worth—or they cause friction and conflict that leads to fallout and disruption. Many relationships hover somewhere in the middle. A balanced story will require a mix of these dynamics.

The purpose of this thesaurus is to encourage you to explore the kinds of relationships that might be good for your story and figure out what each might look like. Think about what a character needs (good and bad), and build a network of connections for him or her that will challenge them, showcase their innermost qualities, and bind readers to their relationship trials and triumphs.

Description: When charged or convicted of a crime, a person is taken into custody and placed in a secure cell, either alone or with others. One or more guards monitor those incarcerated to ensure they and others are safe. Guards enforce rules, transport prisoners from their cell to other secure areas, accompany them to hearings, necessary appointments, and other court-appointed appearances. Generally their job is to tell the prisoner what to do, where to go, and how to behave. Because guards have power and authority while prisoners have none, what this ultimately looks like depends on the ethics of the legal system in place and the rules and regulations guards are bound by as they carry out their duties.

Relationship Dynamics:
Below are a wide range of dynamics that may accompany this relationship. Use the ideas that suit your story and work best for your characters to bring about and/or resolve the necessary conflict.

Invading privacy as part of the job, searching an inmate or their cell for contraband and weapons
Working to keep prisoners calm during stressful moments (after family visits, when an appeal is overturned, after sentencing, etc.)
Cracking down on disruptions to enforce peace
An inmate having a legitimate problem that guards don’t take seriously
An inmate feeling micromanaged and constantly watched by authority
A guard intervening in a conflict to protect a prisoner from other inmates
A prisoner who tries to uncover a guard’s weaknesses to manipulate them
A prisoner who incites others to cause trouble for the guards (for entertainment, to distract them, or to put them in peril)


Conflicting Desires that Can Impair the Relationship
Prisoners wanting to escape the guards keeping them locked up
Inmates who struggle with authority figures
Guards trying to turn a prisoner into an informant when the prisoner knows that will get them killed

Clashing Personality Trait Combinations: Manipulative and perceptive, dishonest and trusting, controlling and independent, private and controlling, disrespectful and proper, evil and alert

Negative Outcomes of Friction
A prisoner attacking a guard
A fatality resulting from a brawl
A prisoner getting hold of a weapon and using it on a guard

Fictional Scenarios That Could Turn These Characters into Allies
A prison riot where both are being targeted by the same enemy
When the guard takes an interest in an inmate looking to turn their life around
When a guard is overtaken and an inmate steps in to help

Ways This Relationship May Lead to Positive Change
Jaded guards may encounter prisoners who are ready to make big changes in their life and regain the belief that not every criminal is irredeemable
Prisoners might make changes to their life because a guard takes the time to get them involved in something positive (a re-education program, therapy, community service, support group, etc.)

Themes and Symbols That Can Be Explored through This Relationship
A Fall from Grace, Betrayal, Crossroads, Danger, Endings, Enslavement, Evil, Freedom, Friendship, Hope, Inflexibility, Innocence, Isolation, Journeys, Obstacles, Passage of Time, Perseverance, Rebellion, Sacrifice, Stagnation, Suffering, Transformation, Violence

Other Relationship Thesaurus entries can be found here.

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