I wonder why most of the fictitious characters I love and admire are female! Is it because I want to identify with my characters and it is easier for me to identify with female ones?
When I think about remarkable male characters, though, I don’t really run out of favourites.
1) Little Lord Fauntleroy: Just like Pollyanna, he should be too sugary to be lovable, but no. He is among my all-time favourites. Little Lord Fauntleroy is a story I tell all the time simply because it is so innocent an beautiful.
2) Rhett Butler – If Scarlett is remarkable, Rhett is even more so. The only one with the gumption to take on Scarlett as she really is without deifying her. He is one powerful character who awes me so much that I am almost frightened of him.
3) Vidal – Vidal is Devil’s cub – annoying, brusque and overbearing. Yet, his relationship with his parents makes me smile and fall in love.
4) Charlie Peaceful – How can one not love a hero? And Morpurgo’s hero is truly a hero. He is the one you envy and worship, or at least I do.
5) Othello – With a wife as insipid as Desdemona, Othello emerges as a character so human that I weep. He is so human that he is not human at all – he transcends the human and becomes the true tragic hero that unites with my soul.
6) Fred and George – I cannot quite tell them apart consistently, but they are characters I adore! Gred and Forge – why aren’t you real people who make me laugh beyond the scope of the books?
7) Grandpa Joe – Charlie is privileged to have a grandfather like Grandpa Joe. Grandpa Joe is willing to dream and believe. He is the one who makes me believe there is justice in the world and that if you want something hard enough and deserve it, you will get your golden ticket.
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