What literary characters can you not stand?

There are times when I read jodie piccoult that I skip over the chapters about lesser characters that I do not enjoy

I could not stand the character of Willoughby in “Sense and Sensibility” by Jane Austen. He’s a selfish, user, a cad. But without his hideousness, there would be no reason for the “sensible” and sweet Colonel Brandon to come along and show Miss Marianne Dashwood that real, enduring love can be found with a decent man.

Also, in the movie version, I just could not fathom how anyone could resist Alan Rickman (Colonel Brandon). Good gravy, he’s as good as they get!!!

Mrs. Danvers, the manipulative cruel housekeeper who so terrifies the young second wife of Maxim de Winter with her continuing loyalty/obsession with the first Mrs. de Winter in Daphne duMaurier’s Rebecca.

I loathe Scarlett Ohara too.

@anartist Loathe in a “won’t watch the movie/read the book” kinda way, or the kinda way where you enjoy watching the movie to see her suffer?

There is this character that I will not name on this anime show that I really do not like. The character keeps babbling on and on about world peace (which is noble per se) while maintaining a private army on the side (not noble). In one scene, this one guy on the character’s private army dies right next to the character and all the character could say was something like “We make sacrifices for world peace, but when would peace come?” I find that very hypocritical. Not to mention that the character has a strange voice.

Funny thing is, this character is actually one of the main protagonists of the show!

I can’t stand Romeo OR Juliet. But even more than I can’t stand the two characters, it drives me freaking insane how their immature, lust-driven, impulsive act of adolescence is then portrayed as the most romantic thing ever instead of why everyone hates teenagers. I firmly believe that if we stopped telling teens that stalking and suicide for each other was proof of true love, we’d see an instant decline in the toxic relationships that plague high school and college (and many of us long after school).

@papayalily I concur with your opinion in regards to Romeo and Juliet.

@papayalily I don’t like her in the movie and would never read the book because I find her an insufferable selfish shallow character totally devoid of charm or decency [her relentless pursuit of her friend’s husband] and I have actually wondered if Margaret Mitchell was deluded enough to actually see her as a worthy heroine. I also had no desire to read anything else by Margaret Mitchell.

This is not necessarily the case with Mrs. Danvers. I saw her as despicable and evil but compelling —- sort of like Norman Bates is compelling.

I also am not crazy about Peter Pan, or any of the “lost boys” for that matter, at least in the original book. As a loved infant he felt perfectly free to slip out a window and disappear into the night leaving his mother grieving. And to find other small boys abandon their families to roam free and have adventures. But he got his comeuppance though. When he tired of adventure and wanted to go home to his mother, he found the window shut and saw her inside with a new little baby to love so he could never return.

And I don’t very much like the Prince in the Little Mermaid.

Heathcliff and Catherine in Wuthering Heights. Talk about two dysfunctional people!

The Cat in the Hat. Yeah, it was entertaining as a child, but when you think about the overall message, it’s creepy. Mom goes out for the day and leaves the children on their own. A stranger, a part human/part cat no less, enters the home, wreaks havoc, and then proceeds to get the house back in order so that Mom never finds out.

No wonder so many of us had house parties while the parents were away and thought that we could get away with it.

@Pied_Pfeffer OMG, I totally agree. I hated that book, even as a kid. The Cat was a jerk.

I can’t stand Holden Caufield (Catcher in the Rye), Bill Sykes (Oliver) and especially Bob Ewell (To Kill a Mockingbird)

Holden Caulfield came off as an irritating brat for most of the book. That’s not to say I hated the book, but I think he, as a character, is greatly overrated.

@noelleptc The character Emma or the whole story?
@anartist The movie The Little Mermaid or the freak show that is the original story?

I’m with everyone on Holden Caulfield. Although, I didn’t like the entire book, either. Like Brian’s date said in Wings, “Adolescence sucks. I don’t need 360 pages to tell me that.”

@Pied_Pfeffer It’s funny that you mention this, because a classmate and I were just talking on Tuesday about how The Cat In The Hat is really a giant d-bag and the book just presents him as awesome. I never cared for that book, it just never hit that ‘must read’ bone for me. I love others, though.

Faust’s love interest. I wanted to skip all the parts that had her in it.

The Cat in the Hat is a great nominee. I never saw the book as a kid (I was too old for it by the time it was published), but as a parent I hated it. To me it was just the wrong message for my kids. Get away with whatever you can while Mother is gone and then blame someone else? Thanks, great idea.

Another objectionable message was preached by Tootle, who was coerced into Staying On the Rails No Matter What, even though he wanted to run free like the horse. I wanted my children to run free and not be swallowed up by convention. Who needs to be a big, shiny corporate engine anyway, if it doesn’t make you happy?

And that damnable Little Engine who made us all feel like losers if we Couldn’t just by saying we Could. I had to assure my sons that self-confidence and belief in oneself are important, but that sometimes we do fail at things, and it isn’t always because we didn’t try hard enough.

And Dumbo! Let’s hear it for falsehood and deception as a basis for achievement! Good one, Walt. We can’t all build our kingdoms on fantasy.

@Jeruba YES! Stupid Little Engine. Although, it does give kids an excellent idea of how the rest of the world will see them if they do fail.

I suppose you’re right, @papayalily. But I hope their mother is going to say “I’m so sorry that didn’t turn out right for you, sweetheart. But I know you did your best, and that’s the important thing. Sometimes things just don’t work the way we want them to, even with our best efforts. But you know what? Those times are a great chance to learn something, maybe even something that will help us do better next time.”

Something that wretched Little Engine doesn’t know.

Scrappy Doo.

@Jeruba Well, clearly, many parents aren’t as great as you are.

@weeveeship Technically not a literary character. But list of hated tv/movie characters? I’ve seen him on the top 10 many a time.