1. Bella from Twilight series by Stephenie Meyer...I could barely stomach the first book because Bella was so whiney. I didn't read on in the series, no matter how much everyone loved it, for that very reason.
2. Andi Alpers in Revolution by Jennifer Donnelly. Andi has a lot to be sad about. She also has a lot to be mad about but it just irritates the heck out of me how she takes drugs, swears, and mopes around. Andi is the main character in the story set in both modern France and during the French Revolution, despite this fact I did like the book.
3. Ashley Wilkes in Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell. Ashley should have told Scarlett that he didn't love her, that he loved Melanie. What a whimp.
4. Lydia Bennet in Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. Everything about this character is irritating. Almost as bad are Mary Bennet and their mother, Mrs. Bennet.
5. Professor Umbridge in Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling. Perhaps "irritating" is to mild of a term for Umbridge. There is something despicable about adults who take out their frustrations on children. Ugh.
6. Eustace Scrubb in the Chronicles of Narnia, Voyage of the Dawn Treader by C.S. Lewis. At least in the beginning of the book Eustace is like the kid next door that all the kids in the neighborhood try to avoid because he is such a know-it-all. One of the best opening lines in all of literature is about this boy:
“There was a boy called Eustace Clarence Scrubb, and he almost deserved it.”
7. Abigail and the other hysterical girls in The Crucible by Arthur Miller. Mob mentality. Ugh.8. Olive Kitteridge in the book by the same name by Elizabeth Strout. This begs the question, can you like a book if you don't like the main character? Oh boy, is Olive irritating but I liked the book a lot.
9. Daisy Buchanan in The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. She was so wishy-washy, a girl who did not really care about anyone but herself.
10. Amy Dunn in Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn. Amy is a B***h, everything she does is calculating. She is simply AWFUL.
11. The Cat-in-the-Hat by Dr. Seuss. Even as a kid I found this cat irritating. I didn't want him to get the kids in trouble with their mom. Ha!
I agree and much love to number 11! Also Eustace, he is so so very annoying! Great list!
ReplyDeleteI agree with all of your choices.
ReplyDeleteGreat idea for a list!
ReplyDeleteHere's my list of Miserable, Unhappy Characters.
Hahah, I love how most other lists are full of book boyfriends or BFFs and yours is like - nope. Volia the characters who piss me off. (I respect that, in case you can't tell.)
ReplyDeleteIn any case, I will jump on the Bella & Umbridge hate. Disagree with you about Eustace though - he's just a kid, and totally redeems himself by the end of the series!
What an awesome topic! Totally agree with ALL of these-especially #8- I couldn't stand Olive.
ReplyDeleteI hated Amy Dunn! I didn't like her husband too much either truth be told. Usually I need to like a character to finish reading it. I finished this one only to see how it resolved. They deserved each other.
ReplyDeleteTotally agree with number one and Meyer goes even further in The Host as the character (after being struck by a man) has a mental conversation where she convinces herself she deserved it!!!!
ReplyDeleteWHAT did Scarlett see in Ashley anyway!!! Arghhh!
That line with Eustace is one of my favorites of all time :)