TTT: Unlikable Characters I Can’t Help but Like (or at least feel sorry for)

 

Top Ten Tuesday: Unlikable Characters I Can’t Help but Like (or at least feel sorry for)

It is a common debate between me and my husband -- Is it possible to like a book if you don't like the characters? He argues that it is possible that the author wants us to like the plot or the setting no matter what happens with the characters. I'm more inclined to not the book if I can't find someone in it to love, or at least like, possibly feel sorry for. 

Here is a list of characters who are downright unlikable, yet I find myself incapable of not liking, or least feeling sorry for them:

 

Olive Kitteridge

 

 Olive Kitteridge and Olive, Again by Elizabeth Strout

Funnily, the author said she had no intention of writing a second book about this bossy, nosy woman from  Maine, but Olive Kitteridge insisted on a sequel! Ha! 

 

Draco Malfoy

The Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling. 

In the beginning I hated Draco, but as the series progressed I found myself feeling sorry for him. He seemed trapped by his upbringing to do the bidding of he-who-shall-not-be-named. Yet, I always thought there was a tiny glimmer of good in him.

 

 

Amy March

Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

Amy, the bratty, spoiled youngest sister who burned Jo's manuscript and ended up with Laurie, seemed the least lovable. Yet, she had to work hard and was a member of the four sister team of actors, too.

 

Mike Teevee

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl

All the other kids with Charlie in the Chocolate Factory were either spoiled brats or just weird. Mike Teevee just loved TV. Why not shrink down and live inside it? I found him entertaining.

 

Miss Havisham

Great Expectations by Charles Dickens

I don't hate Miss Havisham for the way she treats Pip. I feel sorry for her, how she lost her love and can't let go of her pain.

 

Emma

Emma by Jane Austen

Emma is really insufferable in the beginning, playing with people's feeling like they are her toys. But I always cheer her on, especially as we see the growth she makes in the novel/life.

 

 

Henry Crawford 

Mansfield Park by Jane Austen

Henry is one of Austen's cads. Yet, I end up liking him and wishing, wishing he will choose to become the man he professes to be when he falls in love with Fannie Price.

 

Jacob Finch Bonner

The Plot by Jean Hanff Korelitz

Jake steals a student's great idea for a novel when he discovers the student has died. He is self absorbed yet I still cheer for him and want him to thrive.

-Anne