Liking A Selfish Character

In my initial mapping-out of Son of a Saint and its main character Walt, I assigned his primary motivation for running from his family as selfishness. I knew that Walt had no interest in running his father's charitable concern because he didn't fully understand the value of charity: what was in it for him?

Inevitably, I injected this trait into more aspects of his life: his (ex-)girlfriend complains about his self-centeredness during a long breakup scene; he has no use for children and barely tolerates them (at first); his motivation for the work he pursues is strictly financial; and speaking of money, he extracts large sums of cash from the envelopes his mother sends him without even so much as glancing at the accompanying letters, which are increasingly urgent as they describe a crisis at home. (Walt doesn't read these letters but the reader does.)

It wasn't until after November 2007, after the flurry of NaNoWriMo, and after I was some 60,000 words into this story that I was struck by a crippling problem: How do I make an exceedingly selfish character someone who the reader will want to follow? to root for? to stick with?

(This is actually a good sign that I was doing NaNoWriMo right: my "inner editor" was definitely shut off and I was just writing, writing, writing without slowing myself down with pesky concerns.)

It's not that Walt doesn't change -- he has a major transformation over the course of the story. It's just that, well, at least the way things are constructed in this first draft, it takes awhile to see that change. A freak accident gets things rolling; Walt reacts instinctively to do something not only selfless but heroic. This moment redirects his life-path into the relationship largely responsible for his transformation -- and his eventual return to his parents' town where he confronts his issues head-on. But there are many pages before we get to that incident -- pages that still (two years after I wrote them) feel necessary to establish his character and motivations.

One solution I've considered is to introduce some strong positive traits in Walt's character -- something that can compel the reader to think: "Okay, at least he has that going for him." But my head always comes back to this: if selfishness is at Walt's core, what can be good in him?

I need to remember to steer away from the easy "black-and-white" reading of any character or situation. Nobody is 100% anything. People in real life are filled with contradictions in their personality that leave friends and family scratching their heads. What is probably required here is more delving into Walt's character and background, a greater understanding of what makes him tick, what makes him become selfish. If his selfishness isn't simply innate. (In which case, can he even overcome it?)

The key to Walt might be the genetic clock ticking inside him, the physical transformation he knows is coming (but is still a decade off) that is completely out of his control. This might compel someone to do some crazy shit to gain some semblance of control in his life.