This week The Broke and The Bookish want to know about our Top Ten Jerks In Literarture. Were they jerks all the way through, did they pretend to be jerks or did they learn and overcome their jerkiness? There would be more descriptions of these guys, but I’m trying to keep the spoilers to a minimum.1. Prince Ronald from The Paper Bag Princess – I know I had him on my bitch list, but sometimes being a bitch is more about attitude than gender. In any case, he makes both lists.
2. Finnick Odair from Catching Fire & Mockingjay – He comes off at first like a pretentious hot guy, who uses his looks to get whatever he wants and expects women to fawn after him. How wrong that assumption is...
3. Jimmy from The Year of The Flood – Jimmy might be the main character of the previous book, Oryx and Crake, but in The Year Of The Flood he’s a major a$$hole. He knows how to mess with a girl’s mind.
4. Eric Sinclair from the Undead series – Eric basically tricks Betsy into making him the King of the vampires. He uses destiny and prophecy as an excuse, but I’m still not sure he has Betsy’s best interests at heart.
5. Edmund from The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe – Edmund suffers from serious sibling rivalry. Even though he can sense that something is wrong, Edmund still goes down the darker path, putting his brother and sisters in danger.
6. Edward Cullen from Twilight – First, he makes Bella think she smells, then over the course of the series, he is completely insensitive to her emotions. He shouldn’t be the teenage romantic ideal, when he makes decisions for the relationship unilaterally and the girl he can’t live without has to deal with the repercussions. Is he too old for communication? How about they talk things through?
7. Lestat from Interview with the Vampire – If he was also just more honest with Louis, they could have avoided centuries of heartache.
8. Draco Malfoy from the Harry Potter series – Maybe the real jerk is Lucious Malfoy for raising, essentially, a racist son.
9. Willoughby from Sense and Sensibility – I think Willoughby really cared about Marianne, but his love of money was greater.
10. Wickham from Pride and Prejudice – He’s a user and a loser. Austen created some great cads. Wickham makes Lizzy think Darcy is horrible, not that Darcy helps much with that. Then he goes after the most naïve of the Bennet sisters. He’s an opportunistic pig.
Darcy from Pride and Prejudice almost made my list, but that would be three Austen men and I thought that would be too much. This list was almost too easy. Who do you love to hate? Do you ever wonder how an author can come up with such and Asshat?
I have Wickham on my list as well. Austen knew how to create a jerk. I didn't think of Edward but he absolutely fits this topic. Man, he sucks.
ReplyDeleteRed, hahaha... sucks...
ReplyDelete*headdesk*
ReplyDeleteHow in the world could I forget Edmund? He makes me so incredibly angry! *blood boils*
Draco made my list too. I had to laugh when I read your description about Edward and I kind of have to agree.
ReplyDeleteDraco almost made my list, but I think he was more of a coward than a jerk!!
ReplyDeleteEdmund and Edward - Totally agree with you there!
Finally someone mentioned Lestat!!
Nice list!
Here's mine: http://peskypiksipesternomi.blogspot.com/2011/05/top-ten-tuesday-is-original.html
Wickham is a great choice. I forgot about him.
ReplyDeletefun list, all classic jerks. I thought it was great that you included Edmund from Narnia. kaye—the road goes ever ever on
ReplyDeleteInteresting list. You have some that I haven't seen yet. I considered including Edward. I liked him better than Jacob, but they were both jerky.
ReplyDeleteCheck out my list here.
Awww, Finnick! I really ended up loving him!
ReplyDeleteWickham, Willoughby and Edward. Grade A @$$hats... complete jerks. Love your list!!
ReplyDeleteI have to stand up for Edmund here - he is only a jerk in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. In future books, he becomes a very like-able character and shows that he learned from his mistakes.
ReplyDeleteBirdie, Kaye, I don't think most people were thinking of children's classics. I just happened to have recently read the first two Narnia books.
ReplyDeleteLisa, I enjoyed the Twilight books, but Edward was definitely a jerk.
Priya, I love Lestat and hate how jerky he is.
Brenna, thanks, I saw Wickham on a few lists.
LBC, I agree.
1girl, I love Finnick too, but his initial intro to Katniss had jerk written all over it. He's one of the rare ones who's only jerky on the outside.
Willa, thanks. This list was way too easy!
Kate, I'm not anti-Edward. This week's topic included jerks who turn out good later on, like Finnick. He's an amazing guy, loyal and loving, but he's a jerk when he first meets Katniss and Peeta.
ReplyDeleteOops! I just realized I typed Edward instead of Edmund. Damn similar names! I meant Edmund!
ReplyDeleteLooks like we lost a few comments, including my own, from blogger's issues yesterday & today. Sorry to whoever's comments we're missing.
ReplyDelete