memorable fictional characters

[thanisb]

Hi all,

I am a PhD student from Thailand working on memorable fictional characters. I am desperately in need of your ideas..
Which fictional characters are memorable to you and why??
Thank you.

[Inky]

Jane Eyre (Jane Eyre) Jane Eyre is the unconventional heroine. She is plain in face and form; poor and from an impoverished, cruel background; she is an independent woman who supports herself in a society and era where this was hard for a women to do and upkeep. Despite all these, Jane proves her self worth in various ways. Not beautiful physically, her brains and smarts give her her own brand of charm and wit. Quiet, polite and well behaved, Jane never comprises her feelings and her own moral compass even when faced with the love she so desires - she chooses her own self worth, her own morals over that even when it is so difficult to do so. She decides and shapes her own destiny, she does not compromise herself for either society or personal want; she stands strong and confident in a world that desires to crush her time and again. Jane was a feminist before the term was coined. No wonder only a man like Mr. Rochester could ever match her.

Josephine March (Little Women) Fiercely independent and a brilliant writer; yet hot tempered, awkward and amusing, Jo struggles to grow up and find her place in the world without losing who she truly is. A gangly, unfeminine tomboy in an era where this was especially odd, it is Jo who has truly lived beyond the pages of this classic book with her memorable lines, choices and actions. The "boy" of the family, Jo fumbles through adolescence tripping over her own quick wit and bogging through the more sentimental passages with confusion and a hot temper. Independent and cheerful, Jo is still plagued with real life issues that still ring true in today’s world. She’s truly a timeless heroine just like her book.

Francie Nolan (A Tree Grows in Brooklyn) Unlike Jo from Little Women who sees poverty as something hard, yet honorable - Francie really opens the reader's eyes to the harsh, brutal and bitter side of being poor. She does this through an aching loneliness and sadness; forever wistful and dreamy - like Jo she strives to be a writer and become "someone"; but unlike her, Francie never truly looses that bittersweet melancholy that poverty and low birth has stamped upon her. In the bustling city of early 1900's New York, it is Francie who shapes and forms this world she lives in from a brutally honest yet dreamy childhood observances, to a realistic young lady who hopes for a better future yet never forgets where she comes from through the sentimental memories she holds as an adult . One of the most endearing and touching characters in literature.

Annndddd a couple guys!

Rodion Romanovich Raskolnikov (Crime and Punishment) Raskolnikov is a complex and multilayered character from a complex book. Hungry and dirt poor in 1800’s Russia, ex-student Raskolnikov formulates a plan to brutally murder a pawnbroker for money. To try and get away from the mental anguish from this act, Raskolnikov argues that with the money he has gained, he can do good in the world and rid the world of evil; he also commits the murder to test his own theory that some people are not only truly capable of such things, but also have a right to do so. Continually justifying himself throughout the novel, Raskolnikov tries to justify his actions and compares himself to the likes of Napoleon. Despite all these efforts, his guilt consumes him ; the psychology of his actions eats him alive and in the end, Raskolnikov that all men must pay for their deeds, and he gives himself up to his punishment after committing his crime. Brilliantly constructed and deconstructed, Raskolnikov shows the deterioration of the human spirit and the bitter prick of conscience.

Philip (Pip)Pirrip (Great Expectations) Pip is great because while being good at heart, he is still very flawed. Born into poverty and a truly dismissal life, Pip longs to better himself and become a gentleman. Through fate and circumstance, he is given the opportunity to do so. Unfortunately as he grows older and is exposed to wealth and the pleasures of money, this makes him into a rude, snobby young man who cares more for gold than anything else. Pip is interesting because he constantly stumbles through life, growing and maturing while shaping his personality throughout. His character development is excellent in the sense that the reader can really see the struggles and triumphs of growing up. And at the end of the book, Pip finally breaks free of the petty chains that surround him and he realizes what is truly important in life, and why that is far better and much more rewarding than his great expectations.

Atticus Finch (To Kill a Mockingbird) To stand up for what is right is hard enough. To stand up for what is right in 1930’s deep-South Alabama as a white lawyer defending a black man accused of raping a white woman is even harder – but that is what Atticus does, and he does so fiercely. Atticus is honor and justice defined – he neither filches nor shys away from his duty though he knows from the start that he will not win his case, and he will not save the accused man’s life. Yet Atticus maintains his mantra of does what is right, not what is easy even if you know you cannot come out as the winner. Atticus shows that there are things more important that winning, more important that gaining fame; he shows that we should always stand up and defend our innocent fellow man though his skin, race and creed may be different from ours. At the end of the day, Atticus walked away with a lost case but his dignity and worth as a person remained. There is a reason that even today people discuss court case and the ethics of Atticus in law schools; it is because what Atticus stood up for and defended is what every lawyer strives to be, strives to maintain.

Hope that helped! I only mentioned a couple, and I didn't go in-depth about these characters at all. I hope you got the gist of it though!