Describe Your Favorite Literary Character: Paul Atreides

Describe your favorite literary character and why you admire/like this particular character. (Try to use blockquote to distinguish descriptions from comments).

Use the form below:

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CHARACTER:
BOOK and AUTHOR:
DESCRIPTION:
REASON:

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[b]Here's mines.... :)[/b]


[blockquote]

[b]CHARACTER:[/b] Guy Montag
[b]BOOK and AUTHOR:[/b] [i] Fahrenheit 451[/i] by Ray Bradbury
[b]DESCRIPTION:[/b]He's a fireman who does not put out fires, but sets them. His job is to burn books to support the fast-pace attention-defeciet society that feels that books are oppressive and useless at the "present" day and age. Montag believed in the system and enjoys his job until he starts seeing flaws in the system. Montag then fights the systems and breaks free of it, hoping to one day to destroy the system.
[b]REASON:[/b] I find Montag to be very similiar to Tom Cruise's character in [i]Minority Report.[/i] They both begin as a worker for a flawed system that is oppressive, but are too blind to see it that way. They serve the system until flaws start to show up. They both then "see the light" and try to destroy the system they were once serving. Montag is admirable in the fact that he was able to see and understand what he was destroying when he burns books. When he understand that, he risked his life by hiding and reading books he was suppose to burn. Of course, Montag becomes a murderer in the book, and that may seem a detrator to Montag's admirability, but I find that it proves how much Montag is strongly agains the system -- he was willing to kill to return the old State that allowed free-ideas and the existence of books.
[/blockquote]

 

CHARACTER: Tyrion Lannister
BOOK and AUTHOR: A Song of Ice and Fire and George R. R. Martin
DESCRIPTION: He's a dwarf who keeps actually trying to do the decent thing, and keeps getting the short end of the stick. And he's funny, and has the beginnings of wisdom about him.
REASON: Because he's one of the most interesting characters to read.

 

CHARACTER: Jens Larssen
BOOK and AUTHOR: The Worldwar Series by Harry Turtledove
DESCRIPTION: A Scandinavian immigrant to the United States who is involved in the development of the first Nuclear Bombs for the United States. It is at this time, 1941, that Lizardlike aliens invade Earth, breaking up World War II. Early in the invasion, Jens is sent on a mission to retrieve Nuclear material stolen from the Aliens. It is a rather long trip, and during it his Army bosses prevent him from sending a letter to his wife to reassure her he is okay. During this time, Barbara his wife, thinking he is dead, falls in love with and marries another man. When he returns, Jens is shocked to realize that his wife no longer loves him. Angry and disillusioned, Jens leaves the Nuclear research facility in Colorado on a trip to Washigton state. On the way, he has sex with a small town waitress and gets VD. He has more story but this is as far as I have gotten into the series.
REASON: While being a rather piteous character, I identify with Jens and the fact that when it rains it pours. The world screws him over and he is determined to make
it pay. Very emotional and well done storyline.

 

CHARACTER: Richard Bonamy

BOOK and AUTHOR: Jacob's Room by Virginia Woolf

DESCRIPTION: The book is mainly about how other characters preceive and interact w/the title character, Jacob Flanders. Bonamy is Jacob's closest friend who keeps in touch with him until the very end. Bonamy is a repressed sort of character who believes he takes most things at face value and that's the best way to proceed in this world. Cynical by nature and blunt.

REASON: Bonamy is the most poignant character in Jacob's Room . While he operates under the guise that he can be detached from his feelings, he actually is capable of great emotion. Even he doesn't understand the depths of his friendship for Jacob because it doesn't fit in the ordered way he looks at the world. His loyalty and unwavering affection for Jacob confuses him since even he recognizes that Jacob is not overtly special or interesting. And yet, he is Bonamy's most treasured friend. His character is tragic because even in the end, he cannot come to terms w/his emotions. They just hit him like a tidal wave and it despairs him a great deal.

 

Maybe not my FAVORITE (it's hard to pick) but one of the top ten...

CHARACTER: Septimus Hodge

BOOK and AUTHOR: Arcadia , a play by Tom Stoppard.

DESCRIPTION: The play takes place in two different time frames. One is back during the 1800's where Septimus Hodge, a friend of Lord Byron's, works as a tutor for a young Lady Thomasina at a large estate. The other time frame is the present where two scholars battle it out to try and decipher just what happened in the past w/Lord Byron and a fire that burnt down the large estate from the 1800's. Some of the things involved are great mathematical theories, duels, poets, and love affairs.

REASON: Septimus Hodge is a wonderful character. Intelligent, humorous, and patient, he makes a great tutor. But he is not without faults and got himself involved in things that greatly complicate his life. When the true outcome of the past events are revealed, its obvious that Hodge has had to deal with quite a bit and his fate has a slight Obi-Wan-esque feeling to it.

 

CHARACTER: Peter Parker

BOOK and AUTHOR: The Amazing Spider-Man, Stan Lee

DESCRIPTION: The Amazing Spider-Man, and other titles throughout the years, details the life and adventures of Peter Parker, and his alter-ego Spider-Man. At a young age Peter gained extraordinary spider like powers, and learned through personal tragedy that with great power, must come great responsibility.

REASON: I grew up looking up to Spider-Man, first through the cartoons, and then getting into the comic books. Of all the super-heroes, Spider-Man is the most believable, the one i can relate to more than any other character i've read about, and the most human. When good writers get their hands on the title they prove that the essence of the character is not Spider-Man, but the man behind the mask Peter Parker. Unlike many heroes, he tries to mix a perrsonal life thats arguably more eventfull than his super-villain filled adventurer life. Despite all his amazing abilities, he still gets hurt, he still has to struggle to pay the bills, he still has to worry about his dear old Aunt Aunt and his love life, and hes still human. Unlike Superman, most of the general public hate Spider-Man, yet no matter how much like dirt people treat him, he still strives with his every ounce of strength to save them. Sometimes he even rescues his enemies from death, despite the fact that just a minute before they tried to murder him.

 

This is quite interesting. We have a wide range of characters here from a bunch of different genres.

 

Character: Tom Pasmore

Book{s} and Author: Mystery and The Throat by Peter Straub

Description: Tom Pasmore is an amateur detective who appears as a child and teenager, in Mystery and as an adult in The Throat. In Mystery he unravels the mystery behind a string of murders, and at the same time, uncovers a dark chapter from his own family's history.
In The Throat we meet Pasmore as an adult, aiding his friend Tim Underhill, in his search for a serial killer called Blue rose.

Reasons: Pasmore is urbane, laid back, a lateral thinker, and incredibly intelligent. He comes across as a mixture between Sherlock Holmes and a zen buddhist.

 

CHARACTER: Tyrion Lannister


BOOK and AUTHOR: A Song of Ice and Fire and George R. R. Martin


DESCRIPTION: He?s a dwarf. Not a dwarf as in a Tolkien dwarf or Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, he?s a dwarf as in one who suffers from birth defects. He starts out as ugly as he is short, and his looks have gotten worse as the series has progressed. However, by way of compensation, he?s one of the smartest characters around.


REASON: Like all of Martin?s characters, he tends muddle through life. At his core, he?s a decent person, living in a world where decent people have a tendency to die quickly. So he wraps his principles up in bitterness and sarcasm, and he plays the Game of Thrones as viciously as anyone. But he?s capable of surprising acts of generosity, especially to those who are weak and downtrodden.

Despite his good intentions, despite the high principles he tries to maintain, he is almost universally hated and/or ridiculed. Every lover that he has ever had has betrayed him, his wife never realized just how kind and gentle he was, too wrapped up in her own problems, his sister would cheerfully kill him with her bare hands, his father despises him, and those warriors that do follow him only do so for the money he pays them. About the only people he could reasonably call friend are his older brother and Jon Snow.

Reading Tyrion?s chapters, you get the feeling that Martin really has it out for this guy. If something bad can happen to him, it does. But he never surrenders. He keeps trying, trying to find power, trying to find justice, trying to find love.

He?s very intelligent, and he is wittier than he is intelligent. He doesn?t always make the right decision, but it tends to be one that appears to be intelligent and well reasoned out. Tyrion Lannister is possibly the most three-dimensional literary character that I have ever read about.

 

CHARACTER: Huck Finn

BOOK and AUTHOR: Huck Finn by Mark Twain

DESCRIPTION: Orphan who is out for himself in the world. He takes everything with a grain of salt. Down to earth, he has a simple morality and lifestyle and soaks up life, especially life on the river.

REASON: He is moral, even when others tell him that he is not. He is independent, but easy-going. He doesn't let others decide his life for him. The epitome of freedom!

 

Here's another favorite of mine. Just recently added to my personal list!

CHARACTER: Sam Clay

BOOK and AUTHOR: The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon.

DESCRIPTION: During the rise of the Nazi power in Europe, a young Josef Kavalier, an amateur escape artist and a student of art, escapes from Prague to New York, leaving behind his immediate family who hopes he will have a better life in America. In New York, he finds his aunt and meets his cousin, Sam Clay. Catching on to the rising popularity of comic books, Kavalier and Clay create The Escapist, a superhero who cannot be held by any chains or ropes. Kavalier draws the comic while Clay writes the story. Over a period of a decade, Kavalier and Clay rise to fame, experience love, hope, tragedy, separation and everything else life throws at them.

REASON: This character relationship in this book is structured like that of a classic comic book. Kavalier is the obvious tortured, yearning hero who wishes to do some good in the world. Sam Clay is his sidekick who is always there to support and help Kavalier at whatever cost to himself.

While Kavalier has his share of overt, massive tragedies, Sam Clay suffers quietly but with equal pain. Unlike Kavalier, however, he bares it and shoulders all of his burdens instead of escaping away. Chabon writes Clay incredibly well with great subtlety and a strange, quiet dignity and poignancy. In this respect, the book soon moves away from making Clay a simple side kick but a character who would probably deserve his own novel.

 

Character: Louis Wu.

Book and Author:Ringworld series, Tales of Known Space by Larry Niven.

Description: Louis Wu is a 200 year old "Tourist". Many Niven characters are a sort of tourist. Louis is kept alive(as are many humans) by a substance known as boosterspice which halts the aging process for 50 years, you then have the option to take more or not. Louis lives life to the fullest, has a bit of an addictive personality, and at the time we meet him in Ringworld he is getting a little bored. At one point he tells someone how each career he has had lasts about 20 years before he moves on to something else. He is an explorer and a survivor.

Honorable mentions:Conan as written by the orginal author Robert Howard. Ford Prefect from the Hitchhiker's guide to the Galaxy. Ramses the Dammned from Anne Rice. And yes Darth Vader. Sorry, I know the thread was for one fav, I couldn't help myself.

Edited for spelling, I'm starting to think I am dislexic.

 

It's hard not to connect with Tyrion Lannister, but I really wish GRRM wouldn't shove Tyrion down our throats almost every other chapter.

Tyrion Lannister is really George R.R. Martin in A Song of Ice and Fire. When asked outright which of his characters he most resembles, GRRM responded, "Tyrion Lannister." I had to take a moment and laugh to myself when I read this interview because I think we could all see it coming a mile away.

GRRM really crafts Tyrion's chapters with personal care, heart and humor. Tyrion's chapters also outnumbers any of the other characters in sheer page count by far.


Anyway, in the spirit of Star Wars...

CHARACTER: Jacen Solo

BOOK: The New Jedi Order

DESCRIPTION:

Jacen is Han & Leia's eldest son in the Expanded Universe and is 16 years old at the beginning of the series (currently, he's 19 or so). He has a twin, Jaina Solo, and a younger brother, Anakin Solo.

You will find many readers of the NJO who have serious problems with Jacen's character. Common complaints: too arrogant, too pacifist, too sissy, too philosophical and too whiny among others.

REASONS WHY I LIKE HIM:

Simple: I find his compassion, his empathy, his mercy and his ability to kick butt when the situation calls for it despite it all most admirable. This kid tends to think before acting, a little too much others might contend.

Unlike anyone else, Jacen truly struggles with some interesting Jedi issues during times of war and chaos, a time when they really need to be examined. Jacen may come across arrogantly in his quest for the "truth" but the motivation stems from a genuine concern for the welfare of others.

 

up man up. Good Thread

 

CHARACTER: Finn the Cat
BOOK and AUTHOR: The Forbidden Land by Kate Forsyth
DESCRIPTION: Finn is a Banprissonia (the equivilant a duchess I think) she was brought up on the streets as a theif and was only reunited with her family at about the age of twelve. She befriends an elven Cat who are untamable and kitten sized and is a damn good climber. She also assissted with overthrowing Maya the ensorllcerer (I don't remember how to spell it) And was a part of the league of the healing hand who helped in the overthrow
REASON: Finn is funny. She's also very very common and doesn't let good manners stand in the way of letting people know what she thinks even her own Righ (King). She's outrageous sometimes and rebellious but is also very loving and caring. With great courage and sense of adventure. Once she sets her mind to a task no matter how impossible it seems she'll get it done.
Plus she's the only character left from the 'league of the healing hand' who calls the Righ crazy and gets away with it


She's spiffy

 

CHARACTER:Mort (or Mortimer or Boy).
BOOK and AUTHOR:Mort by Terry Pratchett.
DESCRIPTION:Reannual grapes farmer's son, became Death's apprentice and almost lost his life. People kept ignoring him and not calling him Mort but Boy. After he was finished being Death's appreintice he became Duke of Sto Helit.
REASON:He's funny, and gets baffled by the strange things he sees. Also, people tend to ignore me too. As a natrual extrovert I find it very annoying.

 

Character: Rand Al'Thor
Book and Author: The Wheel of Time-Robert Jordan.
Description: Tall, with sand colored hair, Rand was a farmer with his father until he discovered he was the reincarnation of the world's only chance of survival.
Reason: Rand really inspires sympathy in the early stages of the series, as he discovers his true heritage, how his father found him as a baby and raised him on his own after his wife died. He then has to struggle against nearly invulnerable foes and come to terms with the power inside himself.

 

Here's mine:

Character: Lily Bart

Book and Author: The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton

Description: Lily is a turn of the century socialite, a famous beauty on the cusp of being deemed ineligible for marriage because of her advancing age and shaky financial situation. Her gambling debts starts her downward social spiral as her rival (Bertha) smells blood and goes in for the kill.

Reason: Lily is true nobility through and through. Her sense of right and wrong compels her to do right thing even though she clearly sees that doing so will result in her total destruction. Her high degree of morality and honesty coupled with her total lack of talent for ruthlessness is such a fatal combination, making her ill-equipped to navigate the treacherous waters (and sharks) of New York society.

 

I actually have quite a few, so bear with me here:

CHARACTER: Hamlet
BOOK and AUTHOR: Hamlet by William Shakespeare
DESCRIPTION: He is the quick-witted, callous/passionate, rash/calculating, oblivious/intuitive, (mad?) prince of Denmark.
REASON: I've always thought that Hamlet was an example of Shakespeare working on all cylinders. His best momments are when he's torn by his pardoxical tendancies, contradicting values, and adverse perspectives on life. It all proves to be too much for poor Ophelia.


CHARACTER: Jean-Baptiste Clammence
BOOK and AUTHOR: The Fall by Albert Camus
DESCRIPTION: He is you, he is me, he is man- minus the lies. (Man's realized potential). He is more of an abstract thought than an actual person, a dark mirror both reflecting and laughing back at you.
REASON: This character was a real eye-opener for me when I read him back in high school. He was at once your best friend and your worst enemy, but then, he had to be a strong character because the entire story is told through his eyes (in an ingaging 2nd person rather than the usual first or third).

Characters that there's no point in mentioning but I will anyway:

Gandalf the Grey- Not just the quintessential wizard, but also a great model character for the roles of teacher, leader, etcetera.

Tyrion Lannister- Well, what should be said about him has already been said. However, I will say that I just met the man over a month ago and I already love'em.

~PAd

 

CHARACTER: Jack Ryan
BOOK and AUTHORatriot Games by Tom Clancy
DESCRIPTION:Jack Ryan is a man of honor and courage. In the novel, he finds himself caught in between an assasination of The Prince of Wales. He could have just st0od there and watched, and nothing would have come of it. Jack decided to do something about it, he sacrificed his life for another. This is true honor. He is a hero.

REASON: Stated above, a heroic fellow and a great man.

 

CHARACTER: Heathcliff
BOOK and AUTHOR: Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte
DESCRIPTION: An orphan that was taken in, Heathcliff's surrogate family became the Earnshaws...he grew to fall in love with the daughter, Catherine, and was abused by the brother, Hindley. This mistreatment sparked a hatred in him that was so concentrated that he devoted his life to seeking revenge on Hindley and on his family. His love for Catherine never faltered, and ultimately, in death, he was finally with her.
REASON: My freshman year in college, I wrote a paper defending (and in a sense condemning) Heathcliff's actions and his motives. The professor said it was one of the best ones she'd read in years. I think I identified with Heathcliff's character so much because I know what it's like to be so consumed with rage and hatred, sometimes you feel like it's those feelings alone that let you know you're still alive. My father and I had a similar relationship. I also admired, in a sense, Heathcliff's ambition. I remember being amazed at the magnitude of complexity...and malignity of his actions against Hindley and his relatives. His death wasn't enough satisfaction; Heathcliff continued until he was master of both the Grange and the Heights...it was the principle that Heathcliff become master over everything that had once belonged to the Earnshaws and the Lintons. I also remember feeling a sense of sorrow for Heathcliff because of his impossible love for Catherine. They clearly loved each other, but greater circumstances kept them apart. Again I identified with Heathcliff, because I too have experienced a love so intense that it physically hurts when you're separated from that person. Nelly, the main narrator from the novel, once mentioned that Hareton was the most wronged of all the characters in Wuthering Heights. I would agree, but I would argue that it is Heathcliff that isn't far behind.


I also love Jack from Lord of the Flies.

 

CHARACTER: Professor Severus Snape
BOOK and AUTHOR: Harry Potter and the: (1) Sorceror's Stone (2) Chamber of Secrets (3) Prisoner of Azkaban (4) Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling
DESCRIPTION: An embittered and sour potions teacher whose life is made just a tad bit more cheerless by the arrival of Harry Potter, the son of his old school rival James Potter. He is also a former Death Eater who later defected and spied on the Death Eaters putting himself in great personal danger. He delights in torturing his students (especially Gryffindors) with ungodly amounts of homework and in favoring the students of Slytherin House of which he is the head.
REASON: He's an excellent example of someone who is a good guy but still an extremely unpleasant person.

 

CHARACTER: Samwise Gamgee
BOOK & AUTHOR: Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien
DESCRIPTION: Starting out as a simple gardening hobbit in the peaceful Shire, Sam soon finds himself following his master, Frodo Baggins, on a daring (and some would say suicidal) quest to Mordor, to destroy the Ring of Power. When Frodo decides he must leave his companions to journey to Mordor alone, Sam refuses to abandon his master and friend, whose side he swore never to leave. Though some might say he's a bit slow in the head, Sam's bravery and loyalty were most certainly invaluble in destroying the One Ring.
REASON: I just find Sam to be such an endearing character; he's definitely no super hero, but he has such a good heart, and so much inner strength. His devotion is so moving, like when he *ROTK SPOILERS* carried Frodo halfway up Mount Doom (might've been the whole way, can't remember right now...) when he himself was already weak. Plus, he's a poet, and that's always good in my book. My favorite poem in the series was the one Sam sang in RotK (see my profile).

 

CHARACTER: Holden Caulfield
BOOK and AUTHOR: The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
DESCRIPTION: A teen who grew up in a well off family gives the story of his life and his jaded view of people in general.
REASON: I love how the whole story is told through Holden's point of view. You get to see things through his eyes. He is this teenager who had pretty much everything, but is totally annoyed with people. He thinks everyone is a phony. He bleieves himself to be tougher than he really is. Even though he has this awful view of people and how stupid they all are, we see that he actually acts like the people he can't stand the most. The only soft spot he has is for young children. The innosence of childhood is definitely something that is lost during the journey into adulthood, perhaps why Holden is having such a hard time dealing with growing up and coping with life's changes.

 

Geogre Milton
Of Mice + Men by John Steinbeck.
He saved his companion Lenny,from the cruel Curly,who would torture,and kill him.He is a very good person,and my favorite Steinbeck character!