Nah, you are totally right. Having shitty childhood doesn't give you the right to be a villain as an adult.
It wasn’t about Eckles’ shitty childhood that he became a villain. It was because of his obsession with Penelope. So, partly, Penelope is at fault.
And being thrown in a shitty game looking for ways to survive doesn’t give you a free pass of manipulating someone and leading them on then neglecting them. Sure, it was a way for her to survive but why did she not expect of Eckles doing something like that when clearly she’s been neglectful towards him.
I don’t expect Penelope to be the kind and polite FL but if it had been the story of Eckles, we would surely see Penelope as the bad guy here.
The point was that being treated badly previously doesn't give you the right to go around and be a villain and possibly aid in destroying the world.
She used him yes, but she also gave him everything she could except her heart. Bro is just a bitter loser.
I pity Eckles. He's always known Penelope was using him, yet he let himself be used since he too was trying to use her and in the process made a breeding ground for his obsession to grow. The way others treated him definitely didn't make things and only intensified his yearning for escape through Penelope. The things that led to all this made both of them pretty miserable with an exception that unlike Eckles, Penny has people that want to shoulder her burdens and miseries with/for her. Eckles had only ever known Penelope since he was a slave, now he's left with nothing but his own vile unreciprocated fixations of wanting to be the recipient of Penelope's love and attention.
What I feel is pity, not empathy.
He was a victim of manipulation but the moment he started shit, it wasn't only Penelope's fault anymore
He deserves to get fucked over but before it got this far, it was arguably not completely his fault
Could this also be heavily biased in some way? maybe, I'm the type of person that can be convinced relatively easily to switch sides in arguments but this is what I think fresh off the chapter and at the moment of post
(It's also been quite a while since I've read the novel)