Death has never quite gotten its sense of pride back after being taunted by John Donne.
Death Be Not Proud.
What can he say? He majored in English Lit in college.
You're back, so he's back.
The fact of the day is that he feels more empathy for some characters than others. These can be characters from books, films, TV shows, and since the 1st one almost 50 years ago, and you never forget your 1st, I have made a not of them and categorized them under 10 categories. Thus . . . the categories, a couple of samples, and my favorite historical character who has been fictionalized over the years, most recently in a couple of books, which we'll go into farther in Reading Anything.
Sex. All male. I have never found a female character for whom I had any empathy.
Race. Not much better, except once, all white or who could past for white.
Adult or teen (Age.) I empathy more with adults, but . . .?! I have never forgot my teen years, and age is important especially with a teen.
Hero or villain or both. I actually empathy more with the villain overall, then the hero.
Nationality. While Americans make up the plurality, I have no problem with other nationalities, empathy with almost a dozen different ones.
Class. Self-explanatory.
Injured or deceased (Method.) The greatest test of a fictional character's character is how they die.
Criminal or victim or both. A lot of criminals are also victims of a crime.
Sexual orientation. That is how I see them. That may not be as the writer sees them.
Past, present, or future. I actually empathy with characters from the past, more then I do from the present.
And a comment.
William James in Karou Mari's "Emma." Probably one of the best representations of the relationships between master or mistress and servant(s) you'll find. And from a Japanese magna writer/illustrator, and if you are looking to watch something, it was an anime on Japanese TV for 2 seasons.
Adult or teen: adult. Hero or villain or both: hero. Nationality: English. Class: upper middle. Injured or deceased: injured. Criminal or victim or both: victim. Sexual orientation: heterosexual. Past, present, or future: past. "He tried, but he couldn't do it."
Lt. Den Siva from Jo Duffy's No Zeltrons in Star Wars 95 to Jo Duffy's All Together Now in Star Wars 107. I hated to see the series end, as I saw it not only with Luke, Leia, and Han, but also 2 aliens, a man and a woman in a love/hate relationship, especially now that she is carrying his child(ren): twin boys; 2 ex-Imperial space jockeys, 1 a woman; 2 half-brother aliens, 1 a half-breed, and a Mandalorian medic on a secret mission that looks increasingly suicidal.
Adult or teen: adult. Her or villain or both: both. From villain to hero.Nationality: Alien. Class: upper middle. Injured or deceased: injured. Criminal or victim or both: both. Sexual orientation: heterosexual. Past, present, or future: future. "He was good with a knife."
Lord Guildford Dudley in Susan Higginbotham's "Her Highness, the Traitor" and Lord Gifford Dudley or G in The 3 Janes' "My Lady Jane." We'll go into more detail with a compare 'n' contrast at Reading Anything. And if you are looking to see something, then the film option for "My Lady Jane" has been picked up by a film production company.
Hero or villain: hero. Nationality: English. Class: upper. Criminal or victim or both: both. Sexual orientation: heterosexual. Past, present, or future: past.
Next time: some of my favorite fictional teen characters with whom I feel the greatest empathy.
