Klarissa Shaffer
9-14-12
4th Hour

Characters


Characters make a book and break a book. The good characters have a problem, work to solve it, and triumph in the end. A bad character creates the problem, or worsens it, and doesn’t care to try and fix it. A good character is someone who is brave, funny, kind, honorable, and exemplary. A bad character is someone who is selfish, egotistical, stiff, ignorant, and stupid. This leads me perfectly into the first character I will talk about.
The character that bugs me the most is Bella Swan. I could write a whole essay on the things I don’t like about her, but I’ll give you the condensed version. She’s dumb, irrational, irresponsible, inconsiderate, selfish, imprudent, careless, clumsy, difficult, illogical, dull, pokerfaced, self-seeking, rude, foolish, unreliable, boring, awkward, a problem creator, and a drama queen. If you can’t tell, I don’t like her. But, I have found some good things about her (these are actual quotes from the book): She very true to herself, “Mostly I just lied a lot… (3 chapters later)…I don’t like to lie.” She is optimistic, “We would fight, they would fight, and we would all die.” She’s quite rational, “I fell in the washer.” She is wise, “I was insane.” And lastly, she makes very good observations, “I was being unnecessarily difficult.” and “Maybe there was a glitch in my brain.” All I have to say is, there are many glitches Bella, many.

My other least favorite character is ‘the fish.’ The fish from the Cat in the Hat. I haven’t agreed with the fish since the first time I hear the story as a kid. The Cat in the Hat comes in on a dreary and rainy day, looking to cheer up Sally and her brother. The fish immediately turns cold, unfriendly, and uptight. He yells at the new visitor and tells him to go away! Then the cat tries to loosen him up by balancing his bowl on an umbrella. The cat accidentally falls and sends the fish flying; I remember being very disappointed when all he did was land nicely in a pot. Lame! The fish was also very unfriendly to Thing 1 and Thing 2. All he says is, “I do not like it. Not one little bit!” He is very hard to please! Sure the cat made a little mess, but he took responsibility and cleaned it up. The fish was just a party pooper, a fun sucker, and a worry wart, and I do not like him, not one little bit.

Now, one of my favorite characters is Daniel from ‘Shades of Gray.’ It’s not a widely known book, but it’s one of the best, mainly because he’s in it. Daniel whisked me away from the very beginning. He’s a tall, handsome prince with blue eyes, but even more. The setting of this book is back during the Revolutionary War, and he is general over a large amount of men. He fights the battles at the very front, never asking his soldiers to do anything he wouldn’t. In the formidable face of extreme adversity he is heroic, courageous, bold, valiant, and noble. He falls in love with a young woman whom he treats with the utmost respect and treasures more than life itself. It is for her that he eventually dies a hero’s death and yes, I cried. To put it shortly, Daniel is a babe and still lives on in my heart.

Another character I admire is much like Daniel. His name is Kiernan from the book ‘The False Princess.’ He too is brave, commendable, and good-looking. When his best friend is challenged with the task of saving what once was her country, he steps up to help her do what she doesn’t believe she can. He helps her realize her potential and what they can accomplish together. Kiernan is the perfect example of a good friend- trustworthy, loyal, dependable, supportive, and willing. He never fails to be enthusiastic, good-natured, funny, creative, and adventurous. Kiernan is also a stud.
The last of my favorite characters, has long been a childhood hero, much the opposite of the fish. You know her as the girl with crazy red pigtails, a monkey on her shoulder, no parents to tell her what to do, a horse that lives on her porch, and a flair for the outrageous that always seems to lead to one adventure after another-Pippi Longstocking. I always wanted to be just like Pippi when I was a little girl. I wanted to run around and do whatever I wanted and go on crazy adventures, not caring if my hair was all over, my socks were mismatched, my pants had a hole in the knee, or if my shoelaces were untied. When I read about Pippi Longstocking I did just those things. I scaled mountains, joined the circus, climbed the tallest building, crossed the seas, sailed my own ship, had picnics every day, and never went to school. Pippi was my favorite because she was hilarious, outgoing, exciting, and full of energy.
My least favorite characters are all selfish, boring, annoying, pessimistic, and rude. My favorite characters are always selfless, adventurous, mindful, happy, and amusing. We can learn from everyone we come in contact with, fictional or non-fictional. We can learn what not to do or what to do. The point is to learn from the mistakes of others, and not make the same ones, and to find what makes our favorite people so remarkable, and try to be that way.