fictional characters
Facebook toold me to "pick fifteen fictional characters (television, films, plays, books) who've influenced you and that will always stick with you." You're suppoed to "list the first fifteen you can recall in no more than fifteen minutes, including the work of fiction that they're from."
Here are mine, not in order of importance..
1. Siddartha from the Hesse novel. Not exactly the Buddha, but acknowledging that one must know the world in order to know good and or evil. Also the first book I read that made me think I didn't have to follow all the rules.
2. Owen Meany from Irving's Prayer for Owen Meany. A Christ figure with a sense of humor. I also love how he's the center of the story but it's all about how he affected others.
3. Theophilus Crowe from Christopher Moore's book the Lust Lizard of Melancholy Cove. A town cop who grows marijuana but has a good heart. Goes to show that all laws need to be interpreted with some common sense.
4. Capt Mal from the television series Firefly. Sigh. I want to have a steamy affair with Capt. Mal.
5. Atticus Finch from To Kill a Mockingbird. One of my role models of how to be a parent and how to do the right thing, even when it's not easy.
6. Macbeth from the Shakespeare play (not the historical king). A good man gone overcome by ambition. Always makes me wonder not only, is there darkness is all of us, but where the lines are between assertiveness and ambition, and sane and crazy.
7. Stuart Redman from The Stand, by Stephen King. He stays true and good despite the hardships, but also doesn't put up with any bullshit. And he doesn't take advantage of his power, but heads off to make his life on his own, as he wants.
8. Woodrow F. Call from Lonesome Dove. He's tough, he's capable, he's right but he sometimes misses out. By putting duty before all else, he hurts people he cares about. A good warning for us all. Actually you can't think of him without thinking of Gus McCrae. A Texas Ranger yin and yang.
9. Jeremiah Johnson, from the movie but also in the non-fiction book Crow Killer. A man of great integrity, "awfully fiesty for a starvin' pilgrim." He does the right thing and doesn't let love or friendship go unavenged.
10. Edward Abbey. Okay, I know he was an actual person, but he created a fictional persona of himself in many of his books and essays. An environmentalist who measured distance by how many beer cans he threw out the window, learn through experience, love where you are and who you're with.
11. Lulu Nanapush Lamartine from Erdrich's novels. A child with a history, a woman with a past and a present. Likeable even when she does awful things.
12. Robbie Hart from The Wedding Singer. Reminds that it's okay to fight for love and that 80's music wasn't all bad.
13. Tristan Ludlow from Legends of the Fall. He is the rock that they broke themselves upon.
14. Abigail Williams from the Crucible. Pure evil, what happens when disenfranchised, angry people get a little power and can hurt others to make themselves feel better. And she's unapologetic about it.
15. The Walking Dude in several Stephen King stories....Randall Flagg in some cases. He's the bad guy. Powerful and evil, unpredictable but somehow compelling. An archtype.
These things are usually cheesy, but it was interesting to see how this one turned out..... I'd be interested to see what some of my other friends say, and what 15 I might list later this year..... Looking at this list, I think it says something about me, but I'm not exactly sure what. I'm going to have to ponder, look for patterns or repeating archetypes.... if you have any insights, pass 'em along.
Here are mine, not in order of importance..
1. Siddartha from the Hesse novel. Not exactly the Buddha, but acknowledging that one must know the world in order to know good and or evil. Also the first book I read that made me think I didn't have to follow all the rules.
2. Owen Meany from Irving's Prayer for Owen Meany. A Christ figure with a sense of humor. I also love how he's the center of the story but it's all about how he affected others.
3. Theophilus Crowe from Christopher Moore's book the Lust Lizard of Melancholy Cove. A town cop who grows marijuana but has a good heart. Goes to show that all laws need to be interpreted with some common sense.
4. Capt Mal from the television series Firefly. Sigh. I want to have a steamy affair with Capt. Mal.
5. Atticus Finch from To Kill a Mockingbird. One of my role models of how to be a parent and how to do the right thing, even when it's not easy.
6. Macbeth from the Shakespeare play (not the historical king). A good man gone overcome by ambition. Always makes me wonder not only, is there darkness is all of us, but where the lines are between assertiveness and ambition, and sane and crazy.
7. Stuart Redman from The Stand, by Stephen King. He stays true and good despite the hardships, but also doesn't put up with any bullshit. And he doesn't take advantage of his power, but heads off to make his life on his own, as he wants.
8. Woodrow F. Call from Lonesome Dove. He's tough, he's capable, he's right but he sometimes misses out. By putting duty before all else, he hurts people he cares about. A good warning for us all. Actually you can't think of him without thinking of Gus McCrae. A Texas Ranger yin and yang.
9. Jeremiah Johnson, from the movie but also in the non-fiction book Crow Killer. A man of great integrity, "awfully fiesty for a starvin' pilgrim." He does the right thing and doesn't let love or friendship go unavenged.
10. Edward Abbey. Okay, I know he was an actual person, but he created a fictional persona of himself in many of his books and essays. An environmentalist who measured distance by how many beer cans he threw out the window, learn through experience, love where you are and who you're with.
11. Lulu Nanapush Lamartine from Erdrich's novels. A child with a history, a woman with a past and a present. Likeable even when she does awful things.
12. Robbie Hart from The Wedding Singer. Reminds that it's okay to fight for love and that 80's music wasn't all bad.
13. Tristan Ludlow from Legends of the Fall. He is the rock that they broke themselves upon.
14. Abigail Williams from the Crucible. Pure evil, what happens when disenfranchised, angry people get a little power and can hurt others to make themselves feel better. And she's unapologetic about it.
15. The Walking Dude in several Stephen King stories....Randall Flagg in some cases. He's the bad guy. Powerful and evil, unpredictable but somehow compelling. An archtype.
These things are usually cheesy, but it was interesting to see how this one turned out..... I'd be interested to see what some of my other friends say, and what 15 I might list later this year..... Looking at this list, I think it says something about me, but I'm not exactly sure what. I'm going to have to ponder, look for patterns or repeating archetypes.... if you have any insights, pass 'em along.
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