Top Ten Tuesday: Characters that remind me of myself

I was not planning to participate in this week’s Top Ten Tuesday prompt until my number one character popped into my head. After searching my book log on Goodreads, I came up with three more, but that’s where I stopped and had the thought that, actually, I don’t tend to read about characters that remind me of me. More often, I find characters that remind me of other people.

Then I was emailing with Ben and he came up with his own, so between us we put together a list of eight.

Ten Characters That Remind Me of…Me!

Kate Maberly as Mary Lennox in the 1993 adaptation of The Secret Garden

1. [Shannon] Mary Lennox from the very beginning of The Secret Garden: A little spoiled, a little bratty, has some health issues, loves animals, definitely needs to get outside more. I would argue that I am less bratty than Mary and Ben says he doesn’t think I’m that spoiled, but still, the characteristics are present.

 

2. [Shannon] The narrator of My Year of Rest and Relaxation by Ottessa Moshfegh: I’m not nearly as cranky or rude and I do not conduct myself as poorly in relationships as this character does, but I identify with her world-weariness and inclination toward escape. Sleep for a year? Sounds amazing.

 

Minnie Driver as Benny Hogan

3. [Shannon] Benny Hogan in Circle of Friends by Maeve Binchy: This was a favorite of my friend group growing up. I’ve read the book at least five times and seen the movie starring Minnie Driver and Chris O’Donnell countless times. Anywho, I identify with Benny as the solid, reliable girl. She’s an older-sister type without any siblings.

 

4. [Shannon] Nell Schwartz of Banana Rose by Natalie Goldberg: Artsy, creative hippie woman with a love of the outdoors who falls in love with a hippie-ish dude and must battle the oppressive Midwestern winters. Sounds about right.

 

Joel Edgerton as Gawain in King Arthur (2004)

5. [Ben] Gawain:He’s a little tricky, because different versions of the legend give different portrayals, ranging from heroic to villainous. But he’s often noted to have strength that varies with the sun. He’s weaker in the early morning, getting a substantial boost in power after 9 or so.  Then he has a slump around sunset.  It really do be like that.

He’s one of the more humanized characters in the Arthurian legends: sometimes criticized for a lack of piety, but generally regarded as honorable. Loyal to friends and siblings, vengeful toward those who do him wrong. Brave but not fearless.

6. [Ben] Bigwig from Watership Down: big, stubborn, tries to protect his smaller buddies, prone to make weird friends.

 

 

7. [Ben] Lucifer in Paradise Lost: The ultimate individualist. I’m definitely not much of a “serve in heaven” type of guy.

 

 

Skandar Keynes as Edmund in the 2005 movie

8. [Ben] Speaking of the dark side, Edmund from The Lion The Witch And The Wardrobe was always kinda relatable for me: contemptuous of saccharine-sweet goody-two-shoes like Lucy and Peter, prone to brood about perceived injustice, easily swayed by flattery and free food, slow to admit his mistakes. A lot in common with my id.

If you participated in Top Ten Tuesday, drop a link in the comments so we can see your list!