Over the course of this summer, I have been assigned three books to read. All Quiet on the Western Front, Lord of the Flies, and Pride and Prejudice. Of these three novels, I have chosen one of my favorite characters from each to compare to one another and to myself. The first character I have chosen is Kat from All Quiet on the Western Front. The next character was from Lord of the Flies and this characters name was Piggy. Finally, my third character, from Pride and Prejudice, was Elizabeth.
After previously writing about each of my favorite characters from another part of this assignment, I found a certain quality that they all possessed. The quality that they all possessed repeatedly stated was a quality that I admired only because I did not have it myself. This quality is confidence. Kat, Piggy, and Elizabeth all have a great sense of confidence within themselves and of other people. Kat has confidence on the battlefield, Piggy has confidence to stand up to his enemies, and Elizabeth has confidence when stating her opinions. This characteristic is one I lack but admire others who have it. Confidence shows the strength of a person without any muscle. No matter how much you tear away at a person with confidence, they will always have that. It is an important aspect to people’s lives.
One aspect that all of my favorite characters had was one that I did not particularly like. Along with confidence, these characters expressed a mild case of narrow-mindedness. Sometimes it seemed to me that they thought, they were right all of the time. They did not always take into consideration the ideas of others, which did not appeal very much to me. It did not prevent them from being my favorite characters but it did show me that everyone has faults even if they seem to be the most perfect of people. Kat did not like when Muller talked about life after he war, because Kat doubted hat the war would ever end.
It was if because Muller was not agreeing with him he did not want to hear about anything. Piggy, though most of the time he was, always thought his ideas were good and was upset when they were not listened to or were pushed aside. He would get upset when they did things another way. This was mainly because the other ways never turned out good, but nonetheless he still liked things done his way. Miss. Bennet was not as narrow-minded as she was stubborn or outspoken. Elizabeth was not easily intimidated and openly expressed her opinions. She did not mind fighting for what she believed was right which is in a way considered a little narrow- minded because she did not give up.
Not all characters in the novels were my favorites. In each novel, I found a character that I found to be very distasteful. These characters were Himmlestoss from Quiet on the Western Front, Jack from Lord of the Flies, and Miss. Bingley from Pride and Prejudice. There was a strong connection between Himmlestoss and Jack.
They both were power hungry cruel people. They were terribly mean to the people beneath them. Himmlestoss was cruel to the soldiers just as Jack was awful to the little children on the island. They both liked control and abused the status they had. Miss. Bingley did not show it in the same way, but she also used her social status to crush those beneath her that she deemed unworthy. She thought that because she was of higher social status she was more worthy of Darcy’s attention then a poorer girl’s such as Elizabeth Bennet. All of these characters had the same high thought of themselves. Each one thought of him or herself as better then others just because of the position they withheld, even if the position was temporary.
The quality that each of these characters value, power, is something I have never and never will be in want of. I have been brought up to believe that everyone is equal and that you should treat others the way you would like to be treated. Power is something that in a way scares me. After being through 9/11, I and all of my classmate have seen what a dictatorship can do to a country and the effect it can have on other countries. Power-hungry people with only themselves in mind are dangerous. They can be destructive and will do anything to get more authority.
