Never to Meet You

After a good book, people sometimes wish they could meet the main characters in real life. They are the brave, graceful, humorous, interesting characters.  I would list some, but that would be counterproductive.  Because, what fun would it be to describe everything wonderful about them? You probably already love them too. 

These are some main characters I never want to meet:

Alice, from Alice's Adventures in Wonderland

I suppose it wouldn't be too bad to meet Alice, but if I had the choice I'd much rather meet one of the characters I listed above. On top of  things happening to Alice rather than her making thoughtful decisions to progress the story, she kept eating and drinking as labels indicated, almost without caring what the consequences were.  She didn't seem to care about the consequences, and went wherever the other characters pushed and pulled her. 

Meg, from The Time Quartet Series

I didn't mind her in A Wrinkle in Time, I suppose, but I couldn't stand her in A Wind in the Door. I suppose I could try a reread, since I stopped reading the series over three years ago. Meg cries a lot. She is lazy, annoyingly stubborn, selfish, and pities herself at every turn. If I got to make friends with book characters of my choice, Meg would not be on my list. Calvin and Charles Wallace, however, would be very near the top of the list! 

Katniss, from The Hunger Games series 

Actually, I liked Katniss quite a bit after the first book. But with each new installment I liked her less. She becomes hard, only maintains friendships for selfish reasons, and doesn't seem to enjoy anything about life. She became so small, passive and uninterested. And I have no desire to meet her. Maybe pre-Hunger Games Katniss, but definitely not the post-Mockingjay one. Nope. 

Henry, from Journey to the Center of the Earth

For most of the book I didn't mind him. He felt obligated to go on the journey but was lethargic and pessimistic. He would have spurts where he burned with eagerness at the prospects of finding the center of the earth, but he oscillated back to his spiraling black hole of despair, believing they'd never get back and never should have come. Henry was inconsistent and changed opinions of the trip between sentences.