Top Ten Tuesday: The Most Frustrating Characters in Literature!

January 29, 2013 Top Ten Tuesday 58

Happy Tuesday, Bookworms. I’m really quite excited by this week’s Top Ten Tuesday. Thanks to the fabulous ladies of The Broke and The Bookish, today we’re discussing the most frustrating characters in literature! I like to think of them as the characters I’d most like to slap and/or punch, because I’m mentally violent. (I’m like the opposite of violent in real life though. Seriously, my high school gym teacher once made fun of my wimpy ass punches while doing Tae Bo. Way to be encouraging, GYM CLASS. And you wonder why I have nightmares…)

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1. Scarlett O’Hara. How can you not have a love/hate relationship with Scarlett? She is so FRUSTRATING! She’s vain and fussy and stupid and heartless… And then she’s picking herself up by her bootstraps and keeping the farm running… And then she’s AWFUL all over again! Smack smack smackety smack, SCARLETT! As God as my witness, I love me some Gone With The Wind!

2. Javert of Les Miserables. Seriously, Javert? Seriously. You’re so uncompromising and refuse to believe in the innate goodness of a human soul. Yes, I KNOW you’ve got issues because you were born in prison. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be able to recognize Jean Valjean’s change of heart. Your rigidness led to your own suicide, and that’s just a waste, Javert, because that Parisian police force could have used a compassionate cop.

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3. Anastasia Steele of 50 Shades of Grey. Ana, girl. Tell your “inner goddess” to shut the front door because she’s SUPER annoying. Also, go get a real job at a company your super rich boyfriend doesn’t own. Be self sufficient. Figure out who you are before committing yourself to a man who admittedly has serious issues. And for crying out loud, pay attention to your birth control schedule if you don’t want to get pregnant. These things. They are not rocket science!

4. Crake from Margaret Atwood’s Oryx and Crake. I get it, Crake. You’re a super genius and you’re frustrated with humanity. Who isn’t frustrated with humanity? But that’s not a good enough reason to create a biological weapon and release it on the unsuspecting “looking for a good time” masses. Angst is no excuse for genocide, dude. Not. Cool.

5. Rex and Rose Mary Walls from The Glass Castle. I’ll admit, it might not be fair to put them on this list because they were real people, not just characters, but they made my blood boil. They didn’t feed their children. THEY DIDN’T FEED THEIR CHILDREN! They were “too proud” to accept welfare money which would have enabled them to feed their children, but the whole steady job thing was beyond them.  I try not to be critical of parenting as a general rule, but I make an exception for people who DON’T FEED THEIR CHILDREN. Ninja kick!

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6. Albus Dumbledore. Now, before you all go out and have me drawn and quartered, I loved the HP series and I LOVE Dumbledore. However. If he’d been more forthcoming with details and theories and his suspicions, he could have prevented Harry almost dying like a zillion times. C’mon Albus. There’s a time and place for secrecy… But that time is not when Voldemort is on the loose! Unless you’re someone’s secret keeper. Then it’s ALWAYS the time and place for secret keeping. (Cough cough, Peter Pettigrew!)

7. Romeo from Romeo and Juliet. I may not be smart enough to read Shakespeare on the regular, but I know my Romeo and Juliet. Romeo, we need to have a discussion about impulse control. You’re in love with Rosaline one minute and then you fall for Juliet? As your fickle fancies weren’t enough, you just can’t keep yourself from killing Tybalt? You know this whole double suicide thing is your fault, right? You wouldn’t have been banished to Mantua if you’d kept your sword sheathed (pun completely intended). If you hadn’t been in Mantua, Juliet wouldn’t have had to fake her death to join you there. Then you wouldn’t have had to go killing yourself only to have her wake up and kill herself. Ugh.

8. Juliet from Romeo and Juliet, again. Oh, you thought you’d get out of this without scorn? Oh no. Have a seat, Jules. Here’s the thing. You’re like 14. I know, Romeo’s a dream boat and your dad wants you to marry that Paris guy. But seriously. Sneaking out to get married? To a guy you’ve known for a couple of days? Not your best judgement, girl. Why didn’t you suggest eloping? I mean, you were both from loaded families, its not like you couldn’t have absconded with some tapestries to fund your journey. If you can sneak out to get married, you can sneak out and get to the countryside and set up a happily ever after. The two of you just didn’t think. And now you’re all dead and stuff.

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Even Hipster Ariel thinks y’all are irresponsible.

I’m all riled up, 8 is all I can handle. What about you, Bookworms? Who is your most frustrating character?

58 Responses to “Top Ten Tuesday: The Most Frustrating Characters in Literature!”

  1. Daddio

    Heathcliff—- just such an annoying name. And I can’t remember that girls name…but

    Reply

  2. Liesel Hill

    I hated Scarlet too, though I couldn’t make myself hate Javier. I’m seeing a lot of Romeo and Juliet today and it kind of surprises me. While I’d never argue that they’re strong, admirable characters, the tragedy was less about what actually happened and more about the fact that these were two young kids, raised in a rigid society, who didn’t know how to handle what was happening to them. Of course they made terrible, impulsive choices–they were thirteen! Anyway, I’m just surprised how many lists they made today. They’ve never bothered me. 😀
    My TTT. Happy Tuesday! 😀

    Reply

    • Words for Worms

      Javert didn’t bug you?! Oh man. And yeah, I mean, I can appreciate Romeo and Juliet for what it is, but every time I read/see it I’m internally yelling “DON’T DRINK THE POISON!!!!!!!” He always does. Sigh.

      Reply

  3. Ashley F

    How has Bella from Twilight not made this list. Honorable mention needs to also go to Nancy Drew for being smart but a pain in the ass anyway.

    Reply

  4. Rory O'Connor

    Scarlett O’Hara is on my list too, she drove me crazy for the portion of the book I read. It’s one of the few I refused to finish because of irritating characters!

    Reply

    • H. Stern

      If it was anything like my high school paper, be prepared: I got a C. “It’s a ROMANCE!” my teacher yelled. “It’s a couple of stupid KIDS!” I said back. She thought I missed the point, and I thought too many people focused on the romance, and not enough on the OMFG-WHY-DOES-THIS-ANGSTY-TEEN-LOVE-STORY-HAVE-SO-MANY-DEAD-BODIES?!-ness.

      Reply

        • H. Stern

          No, it was rough. She asked us to write a paper about our own, personal Utopias. I wrote mine about the bar scene in Star Wars where Luke and Obi Wan meet Han. I loved that it was this cross-roads with lots of people. And yeah, it was dirty and rough, but it was ALIVE.

          I failed the paper, and had to rewrite it about… I don’t know… some place with hills made of puppies or something. It was lame.

          Reply

          • Words for Worms

            Worst teacher EVER. That bar scene is epic, and the band was super catchy. I can’t believe an intergallactic meeting place couldn’t be Utopian. Obviously she was threatened because you were more brilliant than she was.

          • H. Stern

            Obvs. 😉

            Plus, I had to sit around, waiting for someone to invent blogs, so I could meet super cool writers! Ugh. Those were a rough first 30 years!!

      • Jupiter

        She pointed out that it wasn’t even LOVE, for crying out loud. They were basically horny and in that swoony phase of when you meet someone where the endorphins are making you feel all gushy inside. It was very scientific 😉

        Reply

  8. Sami

    Mrs. Bennett from P&P…Lydia from P&P…I think Jane Austen was equally as skilled in creating annoying female characters that begged to be slapped! I also really wanted to kick Eddard Stark in the head…you are supposed to be a smart guy…If you had just bided your time and stop trying to be so noble you might be alive today! Sansa was sooo annoying…I get 13 yr old love but you need to pull your head out of your ass..or any of the Lannister’s asses because your family is falling apart!

    Reply

  11. Sarah Says Read

    Dude, yes to Crake. I thought of that book while I was writing my list but I couldn’t remember who was who and didn’t feel like looking it up, lol.

    And I kind of agree with Dumbledore. If he had just TALKED to Harry and shared his theories he could have prevented the super-sad death of someone awesome in book 5. Damn these books, they’re just so wonderfully good, even when you want to shake some of the characters.

    Reply

  13. Don Royster

    Got to agree with you about Javert. He is not evil. He is just one of those by the book kind of guys.But the character who really moved me in Les Miserables was the Bishop. And, yes, I read the unabridged version. If you loved the book, there is a French film version that takes place in the twentieth century. Jean Paul Bellmondo plays Jean Valjean. Great film of a great book.

    Reply

    • Words for Worms

      Oh the Bishop! I loved him so much. His one luxury was that silver and once he gave it to Valjean he was all, “what? we can use wooden spoons. Don’t look at me like that, housekeeper lady!”

      Reply

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