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Here are the most relatable characters from literature

TNN | Last updated on - Nov 8, 2017, 12:03 IST
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1/11

Here are the most relatable characters from books

‘The primary duty of literature is to tell us the truth about ourselves by telling us lies about people who never existed' -Stephen King
Literature is indeed the food for soul, in it you’ll find a world similar to yours, people you can relate to, living lives similar to yours. There are characters that unknowingly become a part of you or have already been for long. We bring to you a host of characters in the world of literature that you can most relate to.
2/11

Bridget Jones from "Bridget Jones's Diary" by Helen Fielding

Bridget Jones from "Bridget Jones's Diary" by Helen Fielding: If you believe that, ‘It is a truth universally acknowledged that when one part of your life starts going okay, another falls spectacularly to pieces’, Bridget is the girl you can relate to. She's every woman trying to manage a career, a love life, her health and failings from time to time.
Picture Credit: PanMacmillan
3/11

Ashima from "The Namesake" by Jhumpa Lahiri

Ashima from "The Namesake" by Jhumpa Lahiri: The most comfortable we are in is our homes, with our people. However, often, we have to step out of our comfortable surroundings and face the brazen world. So, when Ashima finds herself in a new land, she struggles with the politics of name and identity. She holds onto the sweet memories of past, clinging to it to face the reality.
Picture Credit: Amazon
4/11

Deven from "In Custody" by Anita Desai

Deven from "In Custody" by Anita Desai: Deven Sharma is a person who is given a chance of a lifetime -- a chance to pursue his talent, his hobby. However, the choice of a life lived for others and a life lived for self is a difficult one. All of us, at one point of time, have to make a choice between these too and sometimes, the choice we make is not the right one. Read "In custody" by Anita Desai to meet a character you will be able to relate to, who lives in a typical world, with a few choices to choose from.
Picture Credit: Penguin Random House
5/11

Tom from "The Glass Menagerie" by Tennessee Williams

Tom from "The Glass Menagerie" by Tennessee Williams: "The Glass Menagerie" by Tennessee Williams is set in the America of 1937. However, the narrator Tom Wingfield, is a character relevant in the modern times as well. This is a character that can see the world beyond, who knows that if he starts, he has the capacity to touch the sky, to live in the world beyond.
Picture Credit: Barnes & Noble
6/11

F. Scott Fitzgerald from "The Crack Up" by F. Scott Fitzgerald

F. Scott Fitzgerald from "The Crack Up" by F. Scott Fitzgerald: There comes a point in life, when nothing makes sense, the walls you constructed to keep you secured from harm, comes down falling on you. F. Scott Fitzgerald finds himself in a similar position. In his essay "The Crack Up", he pens down his feelings as a broken man, accepting the truth he could no longer run away from.
Picture Credit: New Directions Publishing Company
7/11

Charlie from "The Perks of Being a Wallflower" by Stephen Chbosky

Charlie from "The Perks of Being a Wallflower" by Stephen Chbosky: ‘So this is my life. And I want you to know that I’m both happy and sad and I’m still trying to figure out how that could be.’ Charlie, lives in his own little world, through his tainted glasses he tells us the thing we always knew but did not understand. Charlie is awkward, clumsy, angry and sad. Charlie is all of us.
Picture Credit: Simon & Schuster
8/11

Charlie from "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" by Roald Dahl

Charlie from "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" by Roald Dahl: When Charlie, a kid belonging to lower middle class, finds a golden ticket to the chocolate factory, his joys knows no bounds. He is a kid who knows his boundaries, a kid who is neither spoilt nor helpless. A kid who is just like you and me.
Picture Credit: Penguin Random House
9/11

Swami from "Swami And Friends" by R.K. Narayan

Swami from "Swami And Friends" by R.K. Narayan: Swami, the protagonist as drawn by Narayan, is the ultimate boy next door. Swami, the average, notorious boy, is a reflection of what we all were before the world reflected on us all its colours.
Picture Credit: Amazon
10/11

Alice from "Through the Looking Glass and What Alice Found There" by Lewis Carroll

Alice from "Through the Looking Glass and What Alice Found There" by Lewis Carroll: Alice trips on a world that does not make sense. She stumbles; she falls and tries to make space for herself. But aren’t we all living in a twisted world of our own? Aren’t we all stumbling and falling, trying to make sense of a broken reality?
Picture Credit: Amazon
11/11

Arjie from "Funny Boy" by Shyam Selvadurai

Arjie from "Funny Boy" by Shyam Selvadurai: This coming-of-age novel by Shyam Selvadurai is a simple and an honest book. We grow with the protagonist. We realize our own position with him. The society tends to tie down every individual according to the set norms. Like us, Arjie is trapped in a society who tells him the people he can love, the people he can befriend, the people he can call his own.
Picture Credit: Penguin Random House

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