Tayari's Blog: Likeability?

Comment #1, by Michael Fischer

For me, it's not really an issue as long as there's a reason why the characters are "unlikeable." One of my favorite "unlikeable" characters is Earl in Richard Ford's "Rock Springs."

Hate to say it, but I think you're right about the double standard that seems to exist when it comes to male "unlikeable" characters vs female "unlikeable" characters. Female writers have it much tougher when it comes to this issue.

Comment #2, by Jackie

I remember once reading a short story by Patricia Highsmith that had a male character so stupid and vain and greedy that I had to close the book so as not to be a witness to his inevitable downfall. I was angry with the character, mind you, not the author, and never did finish that story (yet I never forgot it either).

I think that female characters that are too nice in a story aren't believable or sustainable. We all know how hard it is to be "good girls" and at some level we fail. If the character always lands safely on her feet it is difficult to identify with her. It implies that we are forever imperfect in a world where others are perfect and I don't like that.

As for male characters, if he is too likeable we don't believe him either. We kind of expect some secret sh** to be going on with the guys.

The characters that keep me reading are the ones that keep showing layers to their personalities as the story unfolds. I am currently reading Eric Jerome Dickey's latest book (don't hate, sometimes I wander off the path) and just as I was about to take it back to the library, he added something to the character that made me go on the next chapter. And the next where yet another surprise was waiting for me. I might even finish this book this weekend.

Likeable characters? Yes, they should be mostly likeable, but never perfect.

Comment #3, by Ladylee

I agree with Jackie: Characters should be likeable, but never perfect.

More specifically, I like female characters who are basically good sincere people, but who have their own quirks and idiosyncrasies that they are working through... Those to me, are the best characters... Give me a character that I can relate to, one I will be thinking about long after I finish reading the last sentence on the last page! Perfect female characters remind me of Snow White or Cinderella... pure fairytale in nature and totally unrealistic.

And at the same time, as I am finding through my own writing, adding a highly unlikeable character who is in dire conflict with the likeable protagonist seems to make the likeable, imperfect protagonist so much more likeable... You're an English teacher, is there a term for that??

(Hey Tayari, you know I am still lobbying for a look at the first 100 pages of your manuscript... feel free to send that my way! I'll let you know if your characters are likeable or not!! LOL!! :)

Comment #4, by Michael Fischer

Agree with you two on not wanting characters to be "perfect." I'm pretty scewed up myself and live a flawed, messy life, so the last thing I want to read about are perfect chracters;-) I do wonder if it's more "accpetable" for a male character to be violent. I realize that men are more prone to violence--history has proved this--but does that have to mean that a violent female character is "worse" than a violent male character?

Comment #5, by james3neal

Likeability is not as important as well rounded and complex characters whose behavior and motives serve to drive the plot. Whenever I read Othello (which I've done over 20 times), I constantly pay attention to Iago more so than any other character. Iago is certainly not a "likeable" character but would the play be the same without him?

Comment #6, by Shelley Shockley

Interesting comments. I don't think that all characters are going to be likeable, to use the Color Purple example Mister was not high on the likeable meter, but he added depth to the story line. I also think that you have to have the good, the bad and the ugly in most stories.
I am really glad that you brought this up because now I'll be looking at characters in another light and develop my characters with more thought. Thanks Tayari!

Comment #7, by Lauren Cerand

This convo reminds me of one of my top most favorite books of all time, HEREDITY by Jenny Davidson, of which the New York Times said:
"One of the novel's most refreshing aspects is Davidson's steadfast refusal to invest Elizabeth with the base-line likability that American readers seem to demand in their fictional heroines. Elizabeth is moody, foulmouthed, untrustworthy and seething with trivial prejudices against everything imaginable. (''I hate umbrellas,'' she declares at one point. ''They make me want to punch somebody.'') She's not above cheating on her lovers, rummaging through other people's underwear drawers and (worst of all) forcing her dates to eat at McDonald's." Refreshing is an understatement!
More: http://www.softskull.com/detailedbook.php?isbn=1-887128-79-4
and http://jennydavidson.blogspot.com

Comment #8, by Michael Fischer

^That's definitely refreshing, especially for folks like me in The South, where women are expected to be "ladylike" all the dayum time.

Comment #9, by dwayne

i have a five page paper due in twenty minutes. okay likeable characters, i dont think i want to read a book where i dont want to identify with anyone. i didnt like color purple too much, and if i sit in think of my favorites, the homewood series, standing at the stratch line, east of eden adn whatever comes to my head, there is always like a super hero in the book. not that i dislike bad characters. and now im a little nervous cause all the books i like have both. i think i read to find the same tug of war going on in life. and it doesnt have to be a character, the good and bad could be what's going on in their head. i do think a writer has to be really good to write an absorbing book where no one really likes any of the characters. now ill write my paper

Comment #10, by Jackie

Hey, here is one: Scarlett O'Hara. She was sneaky, conniving, but very resourceful. Oh how we hated her AND kept turning the pages to see if she would come out on top.