There's nothing quite like curling up with a good book and visiting your favorite literary characters. They're wonderful, lovable, and make you feel all warm and fuzzy inside.
But with them, come...those other characters. The characters that you loathe. The characters that you know you could like, if they just changed that one thing about themselves. They're the characters you just want to smack.
These characters aren't necessarily bad; in fact, many of them are the protagonists of their stories. But good guy or evil witch, these characters are all in severe need of a wake up call, with a healthy side dose of reality.
Check out our list of 13 famous literary characters we'd like to slap. Who would you add to the list?
Jay Gatsby, The Great Gatsby
The pitiful, self-centered Daisy Buchanan has been classified for decades as one of the worst characters of all time. But perhaps the real problem with the novel was Jay Gatsby himself. The constant pining over someone as terrible as Daisy is exhausting and makes him every bit as (if not more) horrible than Daisy.
Amy March, Little Women
Amy March is the reason youngest children have a terrible reputation. As a little girl, she's a collicky, spoiled brat, constantly ruining her older sisters' outings. As a young adult, she's snobby, uppity and way too obsessed with her nose.
Miss Havisham, Great Expectations
Miss Havisham adopts a daughter for the sole purpose of using her as a pawn to torment the male species. HOW AWFUL IS THAT?! Plus, that rotting wedding cake must have made her house smell disgusting.
Romeo Montague, Romeo & Juliet
Oh, Romeo. You only knew her for four days. Did you really have to kill yourself over a girl that you knew for less than a week? Not to mention, she was only 13, and your romance would be illegal in most countries.
Joffrey Baratheon, A Song of Ice and Fire series
Simply put, this kid needs a good spanking.
The Cat in the Hat, The Cat in the Hat
Sure, the Cat seems like a fun guy, until you realize he broke into a home, invited his friends over, trashed the place, and then disappeared without a trace. Also, he speaks in obnoxious rhymes.
Edmund Pevensie, The Chronicles of Narnia
Did Edmund actually know what Turkish Delights tasted like when he sold out his entire family to the White Witch for a box? For those of you unfamiliar, here's a great description of the treat: "It tasted like soap rolled in plaster dust, or like a lump of Renuzit air freshener: The texture was both waxy and filling-looseningly chewy."
Harry Potter, Harry Potter series
Harry Potter is one of the greatest literary characters of our time, but he's also one of the most eminently slappable. He's constantly not listening to people and breaking rules, then getting into danger for breaking said rules. Two hundred points to Gryffindor!
Willy Wonka, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Willy Wonka was a confectionary genius (Everlasting Gobstoppers, anyone?). But the factory he manned was an extremely unsafe workplace environment. Children who entered his workplace often went missing for unexplainable reasons -- how did no one investigate Mr. Wonka for that?!
Effie Trinket, The Hunger Games series
You can't help but want to shake some sense into Effie Trinket. Her perma-positive attitude when sending children to meet their death is nauseating enough to make you want to send her into the arena.
Waldo, Where's Waldo?
Why can't you just be where you're supposed to be, Waldo?
Tom Sawyer, Adventures of Tom Sawyer
Tom Sawyer is a fence painter, death-faker, genuine American psychopath. We don't know why Huckleberry Finn was friends with him.
Peter Rabbit, The Tale of Peter Rabbit
Peter Rabbit's mother told him not to go into Mr. McGregor's garden. That was THE ONLY RULE. Come to think of it, Peter Rabbit and Harry Potter would get along great.
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