Monika tagged me to write about 10 literary figures that made an impact on me. I had Eng Litt. as my major in Grad and Post Grad studies … so this had me confused. So many memorable characters and only 10 – so I settled down to prune the list. And I went down memory lane ……
1. Atticus Finch : From To Kill a Mocking Bird by Harper Lee. Reminds me of my father – super cool and simply did not lose his temper. His dry wit was so much like my father. I loved him.
2. Mr. Wilson : The poor grouchy neighbour of Dennis the Menace. Consider this, Dennis loses half his impact if there is no Mr. Wilson.
3. Heathcliff : A central figure in Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte. That guy had really bad attitude, but made such an impact. His hubris and arrogance bring him down big time. Sigh!!! I do love rogues.
4. Fagin : The thief in Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens – I read this book when I was in school. He was so well described that he gave me nightmares.
5. Falstaff : Falstaff was the most down to earth, happy character Shakespeare ever wrote. He honestly just loved life and people. I loved his sense of fun. He was in three plays by Shakespeare, Henry IV Pt 1, Henry IV Pt. 2 and The Merry Wives of Windsor. This “huge hill of flesh” as he is once called had pragmatism and also loved the good life. The character was very well developed.
(Ooops this is getting too Classics oriented I guess). Ahem!!!
6. Peter Pan : James Barrie’s world famous character who magically refuses to grow up. He is cocky, boastful and stereotypically a boy …. and as a mother to two boys, he makes me want to mother him (and of course spank him)
7. Morraine : The strong willed Aes Sedai in Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time. I simply love the series. He created the most wonderful women characters. They were completely believable and amazing. It pains me that the author died before he could complete the series.
8. The Rani of Jhansi : She was wonderful, dynamic and militant. I hate the new book on her by Jayshri Misra who has diluted the strong personality of the great woman.
9. Garfield : I love him because he his just himself … the pizza loving gluttonious orange cat.
10. Midge : From Archie Comics …. she was sly and had the guts to rebel against her muscular boyfriend Moose and date Reggie Mantle …… she surprised me LOLLLL. Comics are not the ideal material to get a real life-like character. Midge was one of them/is one of them. Moose is deeply protective about her and I guess she finds it suffocating … and it adds to her appeal among all the Riverdale boys as forbidden fruit.
Those are ten characters that come to my mind off-hand …. but ten is too small a number you know.
