Characters You Thought You Would Hate But Ended Up Loving
When we pick up a book, we become like one of those nosy neighbors who get to peek into the lives of those characters up close. And like the formidable mind readers, we have easy access to their internal monologues as well. Spoiled like that, aren’t we supposed to play favorites? Remember that student you weren’t very fond of in the first grade but one day they gave you a chocolate and you became inseparable? Yes, the following list of characters is exactly like that, and honestly, I am glad it turned out to be this way.
Draco Malfoy — Harry Potter Series by J. K. Rowling
“I’m Draco Malfoy, I’m Draco, and I’m on your side!”
Unacceptably arrogant, insensitive, and snobbish, this character that I have hated since childhood, was nothing but a racist, ruthless bully who made Slytherin more wicked to me. That’s how I believed I felt about Malfoy all along. But when I recently re-read the series, Draco’s character hit me hard. I was more willing to understand his position and his subtle character development. His choices and hesitations at the end made me realize how realistic his character had been throughout. Much of his intentions are misinterpreted, more than an evil character, while in reality, he was just a little boy who wanted to live up to his parent’s expectations, because he had been alone in his world too.
Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy — Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
“I have faults enough, but they are not, I hope, of understanding. My temper I dare not vouch for.”
Since most readers would squint to find this name in this list, I must confess beforehand, I am absolutely in love with Mr. Darcy (like where could I find someone like him for me). Initially, he was an arrogant wealthy man who was rather rude to Lizzie at the ball. But as the book proceeds, I got more and more obsessed with him, as much as I perceived him to be rude, Mr. Darcy had been undisputedly honest and hid nothing under the veil. His attempts to rectify his actions and his ardent love for Elizabeth grew over time and through the course of interactions, he never tried to make that girl adapt to his rank. Mr. Darcy has been one of the most loved fictional male characters, and for the right reasons.
Ebenezer Scrooge — A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
“If they would rather die,” said Scrooge, “they had better do it, and decrease the surplus population.”
A miserly, cold-hearted man who denied his poor clerk a proper Christmas cheer, who had been thoroughly uncharitable never really appealed to me. However, there are certain minute things about this character that amazes me. Despite being the stock character of a stingy rich man, he never put himself before the others. He treated himself in the same manner as he treated others. His consequent change of heart as the story proceeds is heart-warming indeed.
Holden Caulfield — Catcher In The Rye by J. D. Salinger
“I’m always saying “Glad to have met you” to someone I’m not at all glad I met. If you want to stay alive, you have to say that stuff, though.”
Catcher In The Rye is one of the most controversial books, for both its plot and the character of Holden Caulfield, who is considered to be a rather childish, presumptuous, and a bit of a hypocrite throughout the book. But he’s a character of flesh and blood to me, brutal insights into his mind, his innocence about certain things, and his love for his siblings just makes him so much more human, so lifelike and so very relatable at instances that he has become my favorite character of all time, and I think he well deserves that. His quirky stunts, his loneliness, his yearning for a little companionship, his deep dives into the things he always wanted to have makes him thoroughly human.
Meursault — The Stranger by Albert Camus
“I am on your side. But you have no way of knowing it because your heart is blind.”
Often called “Camus’s Absurd Hero”, Meursault turns out to be a murderer, who didn’t show the least amount of compassion at the beginning of the book, who confesses his love to his girlfriend but later realizes that he never meant any of it. Such a character often goes off from the list of characters one might even think of liking. And I didn’t really like this character too for his decisions and ethics — I hardly can decide if he had any to begin with. But I love how this character is a whole other world in itself. Meursault is as spontaneous as a person can be in their wildest dreams, he is detached from the world and has nothing to look up to, but his character would make you sympathize with him because he cannot do that for himself. I like this character for the truth in him, for the peculiarity that he has to offer.
These characters have their negative traits that make readers hate them of course, but these traits in turn make them more alive and real. Their flaws and insignificant kindness complete their characters and make us end up falling in love with them.
