Characters make huge mistakes

[Jen]

I was just wondering if it bothers anyone else other than me when people say things like, "Oh, I really hated Clary/Jem/etc when he/she did..." and so on. I can't stand it when people hate on characters for making huge mistakes or acting on an unbelievably bad idea. They're SUPPOSED to royally screw up otherwise they wouldn't be very realistic and we wouldn't have much of a story.

[Fatimah]

I absolutely agree!!!

[Jen]

Fatima wrote: "I absolutely agree!!!"

Yay! :D

[Hailey]

personally i like the character better when they mess up

[Palak]

me too. It makes the story have a climax. Plus i love the moments when u could feel like u could go in and slap the character

[Beth]

I don't mind when characters screw up because it's the author's way of getting the characters arch across...however, sometimes I wish it wasn't so flipping obvious that the characters were screwing up...a well played out story allows the heroine/hero to develop and grow gradually without it being painfully obvious to the reader that 'okay, this is where I screw up and grow from it'...I like it when the arch is built into the story, and there is that beautiful moment of reflection when it becomes plain as day to the character as well as the audience. I think Cassie Clare doesn't do this so well with Clary but went above and beyond in telling us Will's story from ID.

[Hailey]

Beth wrote: "I don't mind when characters screw up because it's the author's way of getting the characters arch across...however, sometimes I wish it wasn't so flipping obvious that the characters were screwing..."

i agree, i think thats a really good way of putting it

[Jess]

they wouldn't be human if they didn't make mistakes.

well... kind of human.

and absolutly every character must have a flaw or we would automatically hate them for being perfect. most readers want something they can relate to.

[Gabby]

It depends though doesn't it on what they do? If it is something over the top then, yeah I do hate them, but isn't that the idea? to evoke that emotion within the reader and create that relationship between them and the characters?

[Veronica]

I would be utterly bored if all characters were perfect! Not all personalities/actions work with certain plots so each character needs to be their own.

Reading would be pretty pointless if all characters did everything "right". Especially since everyone's idea of "right" is completely different...

[Beth]

I was thinking about this thread yesterday and was thinking that once an author puts their story and characters down on paper, the readers and audience may interpret the actions and decisions of those characters in a completely different manner than what the author intended. That's the beauty of writing! It's all open to interpretation with fiction!

[Jen]

Gabby wrote: "It depends though doesn't it on what they do? If it is something over the top then, yeah I do hate them, but isn't that the idea? to evoke that emotion within the reader and create that relationshi..."

Over the top sure, but I rarely hate a character. Even if they make HUGE mistakes. I find it very annoying because it seems to me that everyone really, reallly hates on characters for being so flawed! I feel like most readers are too harsh! Sometimes my favorite part of the story is when the character I love really screws up!

[Michaella]

i love how books like this dont think about what is going on in the real world and i think something should happen with the human cops. Im wondering how the shadow hunters will handle that

[★ Mist ☆ Cassidy ★]

Usually, I don't mind a character when they make a mistake and sometimes I even like them better. But if it's a big, big mistake I sometimes do. For example, if Simon slipped up and accidently killed Izzy or Alec, or any other character like that at some point, I would definetly not be too pleased.

[Jen]

Rockclimbingirl wrote: "Usually, I don't mind a character when they make a mistake and sometimes I even like them better. But if it's a big, big mistake I sometimes do. For example, if Simon slipped up and accidently kill..."

Yeah...that one I'd have to go with the whole hating thing. lol

[Samantha The Escapist]

Yes character error is necessary but when it is poorly executed (like a thinly veiled excuse to get someone into a position that the author wanted to write about OR something necessary for the plot but so obvious the reader simply cannot relate and is thus alienated) it can ruin a character and a story.

And I don't hate characters for making mistakes or being wishy-washy (a common trait among YA heroines with all these rampant love triangles), I hate them for being boring (Luce from Fallen), inconsistent (Nora from Hush Hush), unrealistic or otherwise pathetic (Bella of course, who else), 1 dimensional (Clary) etc.

A good example; I can forgive Katniss for her triangle because she's not ridiculous and she's agonizingly aware of what she's doing. She's a real person and this makes it less frustrating for the reader because we have nothing to scream at her that she doesn't already know.

We have many things to scream at Bella and Nora.

I'd like to see a series that had the balls to make a character screw up hardcore and then go through the difficulties of making ammends. Tired of characters that go bad and redeem themselves just before they die, or worse, characters that are wounded and brooding because they think they're bad when they're not. (looking at you, Jace, Will, Edward, Patch etc.)

[Dee]

Jen wrote: "I was just wondering if it bothers anyone else other than me when people say things like, "Oh, I really hated Clary/Jem/etc when he/she did..." and so on. I can't stand it when people hate on chara..."

I totally agree, if they never made mistakes the books would be boring. I've never hated the main character of a book before either, I dont know how people can.

[Shay]

I mean it's fine for characters to make mistakes, but sometimes it seems pretty obvious that it's a mistake. However, one thing I have to constantly remind myself is that they are young. We're talking 16, 17 years old. Of course they're going to make stupid mistakes and you want to smack the crap out of them, but you can't. Speaking of which, I'm now a bit surprised that Tessa and Jem are planning on getting married so young. This isn't the first YA novel where this has happened either...

Then again, we're talking the Victorian age, so maybe that's normal. Idk -.-

[Veronica]

Rike' wrote: "I mean it's fine for characters to make mistakes, but sometimes it seems pretty obvious that it's a mistake. However, one thing I have to constantly remind myself is that they are young. We're talk..."

I started this topic awhile back. You might want to add something to it.

http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/7...

[Caty]

I agree with you. It is also the main reason why we keep reading the story. If the charecters did everything we wanted them too then we would soon get bored with the story. The author does this on purpose. To be honest, alot of the charecters I read about possess personalities I wish I had and the actions they do are the ones I wish I had the courage to do. lol

[Veronica]

Caty wrote: "I agree with you. It is also the main reason why we keep reading the story. If the charecters did everything we wanted them too then we would soon get bored with the story. The author does this on ..."

I feel the exact same way! I try to do things I read about in books all the time, haha! :P

[Caty]

Yeah! In books, it feels like an escape from reality. A whole new world in my hand. When I read, I sometimes like to insert myself in the book to make it more realistic. But all the lessons the main charecters learn, I take in. Now, I have more confidence in myself then I did before. All because of books! :)

[Veronica]

Caty wrote: "Yeah! In books, it feels like an escape from reality. A whole new world in my hand. When I read, I sometimes like to insert myself in the book to make it more realistic. But all the lessons the mai..."

That's great :)