Top Ten Tuesday: Characters That Remind Me of Myself

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together. For the list of past topics and future schedule, click here.

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Characters That Remind Me of Myself

Hermione Granger

I am SO like Hermione it’s not even funny. Insecure and afraid of failure, of falling short. An overachiever who excels academically. Logical. Good character. Always focused on the task. Librarian and teacher at the heart. And yet, there is a wealth of vulnerability underneath shrouded in insecurity.  Feeling inadequate. Compensating for that with excelling in everything at school. Extreme compassion. Quick to help others. Protective of friends.

Lani

After getting well into the book, Lani began strongly expressing herself, and I found that our thoughts on life and relationships are exactly alike. It is like I was reading about another version of me in another dimension…or, you know, Hawaii. I loved the soul of her character. The element about this book that really sucked me in was the character’s insights. When Lani and Easton describe Pearl, it is beautiful. When they internally reflect about themselves and one another and their future, it is the want and need and conflict that is so honest, sincere, and authentic.

Sarah Walters

Sarah Walters is a less-than-perfect debutante. She tries hard to follow the time-honored customs, but she can’t quite ignore the barbarism just beneath all that propriety. Sarah has a string of boyfriends who are lame-O losers. She’s not very likeable, totally clueless in relationships. When life’s complications become overwhelming, Sarah returns home to confront with matured eyes how much fuller life can be, for good and for ill, among those who know you best. The realization she has at the end of the book has stuck with me all these years. I feel that it is me. That half (or more) of what makes this character is me and my life.

And then there’s the truth beyond, sitting like an old rock under green creek water: none of these things matter. Right now, in this moment, we have love. It will leave, and it will come again, and when it does I’ll give up everything and take it. Just like an addict. Like dry grass in new rain. It’s not something I’m proud of necessarily. Then again, maybe I am. That’s it, I guess. That’s all I know. 

Who are some characters you identify with?