Disliking the Main Character in Literature: A Common Phenomenon

Have you ever been captivated by a novel but found the main character to be entirely unlikable or even irritating? This phenomenon is more common than one might think, as evidenced by the Lolita character, Humbert Humbert. More often than not, people expect to like or identify with the central character if they are the narrator, but this is a misplaced assumption. In fact, it's a critical lesson that Vladimir Nabokov, the author of Lolita, emphasized: If you're going to identify with the central character, you better be careful about which books you read.

Disliking the main character is a recurring experience for many readers. For instance, imagine having to read Jane Austen's Mansfield Park and finding the protagonist, Fanny Price, unappealing. Similarly, the characters in Wuthering Heights, Heathcliff and Catherine Earnshaw, also fail to make a positive impression. More contemporary works like Brave New World and The Odyssey have characters that fall into this category, with Bernard Marx and Odysseus, respectively, proving to be quite unsympathetic. Even classic epics like the Iliad and Kidnapped, while not novels technically, have main characters, Achilles and David Balfour, who fail to win the reader's favor.

This trend extends to more recent works as well. In the beloved series The Earth's Children, although the main character, Ayla, starts out with admirable qualities, she eventually transforms into a 'Mary Sue' figure, too perfect and brought up by Neanderthals to be realistically relatable.

The list of stories where the central character fails to win the reader's affection is extensive. Even The Lord of the Rings, a classic in fantasy literature, has a main character, Frodo Baggins, that can be considered mundane and overly ordinary within the rich tapestry of a magical world. In Harry Potter, many readers find the titular character less appealing than his less prominent companions, Harry often being overshadowed by the likes of Snape, Dumbledore, Lupin, and even Neville and Luna. Another common turn-off with Harry is his portrayal as a moral compass, leading to his judgments often conflicting with the reader's.

A notable exception is Pamela, where the main character, Pamela, is initially virtuous but rapidly evolves into a highly improbable and unrealistic figure, seemingly rising from a lowly servant to become a nanny and eventually a wife. This journey is, quite simply, unrealistic.

While every reader's experience is subjective and varies, it's interesting to explore these patterns. Reading a book where the central character is unlikable can be a pivotal experience, often leading readers to question the very role of the main character and the narrative's underlying themes. This phenomenon highlights the importance of careful selection when choosing a book to read, especially one where the main character might be challenging to sympathize with or relate to.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the experience of disliking the main character in a book can be a surprising and thought-provoking one. From classics to contemporary literature, it serves as a reminder that a central character's likability does not guarantee a reader's enjoyment. Recognizing this can enhance one's reading experience and lead to a more critical approach to the narratives and characters we encounter in literature.

Keywords: main character, reader identification, novel criticism