An Unplanned Moral Dilemma

I posted this on another writing forum a few years ago, but I wanted to see what ideas/answers I got from here.

In the first book of my urban fantasy trilogy , my teenage protagonist discovers that his girlfriend is a vampire. Due to being born a vampire, she is a Fully-Embraced Fiend who kills humans for blood without remorse, and actually becomes offended when he suggests a "vegetarian" lifestyle.

However he accepts all of this because he finds her fascinating and beautiful. Originally I didn't think about the moral implications of the situation—and strangely neither did most of my readers. But eventually one of them said this was problematic, since he was basically party to the killings, even though he didn't directly contribute.

My issue is basically this: the protagonist does undergo a moral shift toward a darker nature as the series goes on, but at the beginning, I presented him as a squeaky clean, average teenage boy.

I don't want this "ambiguous morality" hanging over his head in the beginning, since it's too soon. Is there anything you think I can do about this? Or should I just leave it as it is and hope for the best?

The girl could always try to fool him that she does feel remorse for the killings.

Not caring that his girlfriend kills people just isn't squeaky clean, no matter how I picture it. Then again, he could keep being a morally upstanding person in every instance but the condemnation of his girlfriend because, well, hormones. Whenever the thought crosses his mind he simply shoves it aside to retain his own self-perception as a good person.

Still, as soon as the full gravity of what his girlfriend is doing becomes clear to him his further actions test his morality. Does he notify the authorities to stop the killing, or will he turn a blind eye out of love? Although if there isn't anything he can do, no authorities he could call on the matter for instance, it wouldn't be too surprising for him to do nothing, at which point the ease at which he accepts it all becomes the test of morality.

I rambled a bit, but I hope I could be of some assistance.

There's also an option of delaying the revelation that she's a vampire. Have him be Locked Out of the Loop for some time. Learning that your girlfriend is a murderer is pretty big thing, especially for an ordinary teenager. And if enough time passes from the start of their relationship till the revelation, it also has an added bonus of racking up the tension between the pair, if you want to go that route.

@ilili: No no the "rambling" is fine; it's what I want to get ideas flowing! Now about your points:

1. I did write a part where he considered going to the police but realized they would think he was insane or a prankster...and even if they did believe him, unless they came for her during daylight she would either run away easily or just rip them apart. And then turn on him...

2. Another contribution is teenage hormones but it's also a power trip. A predatory monster has taken an interest in him and is lavishing her attention on him rather than dismissing him as mere prey/cattle. It does a lot for one's self esteem.

...jeez now that I wrote this all out, I think "squeaky clean" isn't the right word choice. He was far more normal and sane in the beginning, lets go with that.

I agree. Delaying the revelation seems a good option here, though seeing as she seems very unapologetic about the whole thing having her be secretive about her murders mind not be an option.

Point one sounds like a perfectly reasonable train of thought that is not at all insane or abnormal, if not necessarily morally upstanding.

Point two also seems reasonable, and while it does call the protagonist's morality into question, it does so in a manner reminiscent of someone mingling and being accepted by a "bad crowd", like a violent gang. Sure, the gravity of the situation might be more dire, but our young protagonist might not necessarily realize that.

So yeah, there is a moral dilemma, but it doesn't immediately push the protagonist into the darkest depths.

It could be argued that being secretive about her murders is a matter of survival for her (if there's a Masquerade going on, that is). She wouldn't live long enough if she confessed that she's an active murderer left and right. She might be unapologetic about that, but she must understand that what she's doing is considered wrong in the society, members of which she's preying on.

Does the "Vegetarian" option have to be viable. If it's the kind of thing that would kill her or even just make her sick, he would have a harder time sticking to his moral guns. It would still leave the option of blood banks or willing victims on the table, but there ways to tighten up those loop holes as well, I'm sure.

The "vegetarian" (i.e animal blood) aspect does have negative effects such as sickness and lack of nourishment, which does go a long way towards swaying him to her side.

If your protagonist is willing to overlook her being a killer because she's hot, he's not a good person. A realistic person perhaps (plenty of examples of this in real life) but still not a very morally upstanding one.

Then it seems from reading all of these replies that I may have to portray the protagonist as less moral than before. I kept trying to find workarounds and ways for his situation to fit with an upstanding individual but I may have to just go the straight route and add gray to the story from the very beginning.