Having read thousands of books I believed
this would be an easy topic. Then I went
blank. I thought of a lot of the books I
had read, of the characters in them and couldn’t pull any one of them out as a “favorite.” Over the next few days I mulled over the
topic and two characters finally came to mind.
Many will recognize the first from this quote:
“They seek him here, they seek him
there
Those Frenchies seek him everywhere
Is he in heaven or is he in hell?
That demned elusive Pimpernel”
Those Frenchies seek him everywhere
Is he in heaven or is he in hell?
That demned elusive Pimpernel”
Yes, Sir Percy Blakeney in
The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness
Emmuska Orczy. He is a hero disguised in
a foppish dandy exterior and manner known for witticisms on trivial matters
such as: “Odd's fish, m'dear!
The man can't even tie his own cravat!” or “Sink me! Your taylors have betrayed
you! T'wood serve you better to send THEM to Madam Guillotine” Sir Percy endures the disdain of the wife he
loves while he and his band of aristocrats rescue French aristocracy from the
guillotine. I love his daring, his cool headed
reactions to imminent danger, his fly-in-the-face manner to the
authorities. It was people like him I
strove to be in my childhood playtime adventures.
The other favorite
character is a man of a far different sort:
Atticus Finch from To Kill a Mocking
Bird by Harper Lee. Atticus is not
as witty, but is a far deeper thinker than Sir Percy. He tells Scout, "You never really understand a person until you consider things
from his point of view... Until you climb into his skin and walk around in it."
and in another instance says, Courage
is not a man with a gun in his hand. It's knowing you're licked before you
begin but you begin anyway and you see it through no matter what. You rarely
win, but sometimes you do."
His enduring belief in people and the law, his humility, his daring to be different in a time that held little patience for such, to hold different--even dangerous--views for the time in which he lived will always keep him at the top of my list.
His enduring belief in people and the law, his humility, his daring to be different in a time that held little patience for such, to hold different--even dangerous--views for the time in which he lived will always keep him at the top of my list.
10 comments:
Joan, I haven't read the first, but To Kill a Mockingbird is one of my favorite books! I'm still pushing my (almost) 24-year-old daughter to read it.
It wasn't a required read in H.S. English for us, but it should have been. I read it early in H.S. and have watched (and own!) the movie. It says a lot of us, as people, and as a nation, especially during the time period it was written. We never seem to get past some of our prejudices.
What fascinated me was when I learned, not long ago, that Harper Lee worked with Truman Capote, during the time he wrote In Cold Blood. She did a lot of the interviewing needed and the research. It's so, so sad that she's having to fight for her rights over her one and only book (TKaM). She deserves every penny for that classic story.
I LOVE the Scarlet Pimpernel!! He was ever so clever and I loved his disguises. My mom has a beautiful hardbound copy of the first book. I used it for a book report/class presentation in my 11th grade English class. A guy, who sat behind me(I had a crush on him) asked me afterward if I was French since I pronounced all the names so well. I just smiled and said no (and probably blushing three shades of red). I had watched the Jane Seymour/Anthony Andrews (love him) movie version a hundred times. They combined more than one book for that movie.
Also, I gave one of my young characters (a girl), the last name Blakeney. I couldn't resist.
I loved the Scarlet Pimpernel, too. What a wonderful hero. A Zorro style of a hero, one who must keep his skills and secrets hidden, even from his love, until the job is done.
Rox, I agree that To Kill a Mockingbird should be required reading as it tells so much about the world then and unfortunately still today. Robert Mulligan, the movie's director was a brave and honest soul for a filmmaker to make such a movie in those times.
Melissa, I love the Jane Seymour/Anthony Andrews Scarlet Pimpernel. I fell in love with Andrews with he did Danger UXB (a series about the men who tackled unexploded bombs in London during WWII) on PBS in 79. My Comte de Cavilion in The Curious Rogue as well as Andre de la Croix in my Honour series bear a resemblance to Sir Percy.
Pat, You are right to think of Zorro. I loved the Guy Williams tv version best.
Pat, You are right to think of Zorro. I loved the Guy Williams tv version best.
Did I mention that when I read To Kill a Mockingbird, I sobbed? I was maybe 15, and it touched my heart and made me think.
I swear I saw Pimpernell on TV when I was a kid. But then I always loved those swashbucklers. *Yes, Errol Flynn*
There have been some terrible Scarlet Pimpernel movies with Victorian or Georgian costuming and just plain bad adaption of storyline. Hence the Andrews recommendation.
I watched a tone of Errol Flynn movies as a teenager. One of my favorites too:)
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