One of the reasons I love reading so much is because I get the opportunity to experience things I wouldn’t get to experience otherwise. Even though I love living vicariously through characters, I wouldn’t want to trade places with many of them. There are some lives that I’d rather keep inside the pages of the books. Here’s my top ten list (in no particular order):
- Katniss Everdeen from The Hunger Games: I definitely would not want to trade places with Katniss. I have absolutely no desire to compete in the Hunger Games (I mean, who does?!). I am not fierce the way Katniss is, and I have zero survival skills. If I were in the Hunger Games, I would surely be the first to die.
- Harry Potter from the Harry Potter series: Don’t get me wrong, there are aspects of Harry’s life that I envy. I would kill to be a student at Hogwarts, for example. And, who doesn’t want to have super cool wizard powers? But, I would not want to be the Chosen One, destined to fight Voldemort and save the world. That’s a lot of pressure. No thank you!
- Ender Wiggin from Ender’s Game: Like Harry Potter, Ender is another character who has a ton of responsibility thrust upon him at a young age. He’s ridiculed because he is a third child, and he’s bullied for being placed on the fast track toward military success. During his military training, Ender has to make tough, almost impossible, life decisions that I just would not be able to make.
- Jonas from The Giver: Jonas lives in a world that I would not want to live in–a world devoid of color and true emotion, where everything is dictated by society. There’s no choice or freedom in life. And, Jonas is so different, set apart from everyone else in the community. I wouldn’t want to be as different as he is; it would be a lonely life.
- Kate from The Taming of the Shrew: I love Shakespeare, but his female characters tend to get the short end of the stick. Kate is no exception to this. She starts out as a strong female character who is a force to be reckoned with. She doesn’t really care what other people think and she isn’t afraid to speak her mind. But eventually, she succumbs to Petruchio’s taming. In the process, she loses the fire of her personality and allows herself to be defined by what society tells her is right. I would not want to lose my identity the way she does in the play.
- The Creature from Frankenstein: The Creature is a character who is incredibly misunderstood. Personally, I think his story is tragic. He is brought into the world by a creator who immediately shuns him. He is left to his own devices to teach himself about the differences between right and wrong, which is a daunting task for someone who quickly learns just how cruel the world can be. He leads a lonely, miserable existence, which is not something I would want to experience.
- Gollum from The Lord of the Rings: Gollum is another character who leads a lonely, miserable existence. His life has been completely sucked away by the One Ring. It’s all he can think about, all he longs for. And then, he has these moments when he is deeply saddened by the creature he has become, completely isolated from the rest of the world. I pity him, and I do not envy his life one bit.
- Draco Malfoy from the Harry Potter series: Confession time–Malfoy is one of my favorite baddies of all time. He’s the guy I just love to hate (well, I don’t hate hate him). Even though he’s always up to no good, and I love giving a mean glare and muttering, “Malfoy,” every time I read one of the Harry Potter books or watch one of the movies, I can’t help but also feel sorry for him. I think his malicious personality can be attributed completely to bad parenting. All Draco wants is approval from his parents, and he feels like the only way he can do that is by being the baddest baddie that ever was (at least that’s who he tries to be). I think he is confused and lonely and could probably really use a hug (but not a weird, awkward hug from Voldy). I wouldn’t want to be him.
- Gregor Samsa from The Metamorphosis: He turns into a bug. Need I say more.
- Tris Prior from the Divergent series: Even though I haven’t read Allegient yet, and I’ve done a pretty good job of staying away from spoilers, I wouldn’t want to be Tris. The world she lives in is not a world I want to experience. I don’t like the idea of a society where everyone is reduced to one character trait–bravery, kindness, honesty, intelligence, or selflessness. And, Tris is set apart from everyone else with her divergence, forcing her to be constantly on her guard and wary of the people who, in a normal world, she would be trusting.
I definitely agree on Divergent and The Hunger Games. Also, I was going to add Harry Potter on my list for the exact same reasons, but decided not to, when I was having trouble describing why. Draco. Draco. Draco.
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Gollum and the Creature's situation in life is so sad. Gollum is infected by obsession and the Creature is roughly and forced to face a cruel world alone. A lot of these characters have a tragic element to them.
ReplyDeleteIt's a really thought provoking process to read about all of these characters and think about life from new perspectives. I agree part of the virtue of reading is that we don't have to physically become these characters in order to gain something from knowing about them. Authors save us the heartache and stresses of becoming these characters for ourselves.
I first discovered fanfiction through Harry Potter, so I always, always get Fanon!Draco mixed up with Canon!Draco. I might want to be Fanon!Draco—the ladies love him!
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Good list, I agree I would never want to trade places with Katniss, Harry, Jones or Kate, I actually kind of hate Taming of the Shrew because Petruchio pretty much abuses Kate until she summits to his will which is just such a sad thing because even though I wasn't a huge fan of her character I don't think anyone deserves to be in a relationship like that.
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