To tell you the truth, I am a
pretty optimistic guy. I usually really want the glass to be half full even if
I see it’s not. I believe that trying is changing. You try hard enough, and for
long enough, you can make things happen. However, every now and then there comes
a character, who may be fictitious or real, who is so negative, petty,
arrogant, pathetic and downright evil, that
people band together and hate that character en masse.
These are special personalities, who deserve all this merciless and scorching torrent of abuse, and also, I happen to have some time one my hands and a creative itch that just won’t go away.
These are special personalities, who deserve all this merciless and scorching torrent of abuse, and also, I happen to have some time one my hands and a creative itch that just won’t go away.
So if you like fiction novels, and
if you would like to read a character sketch of the members of the pantheon of
villainy, please go ahead and read this article.
Note: Any resemblance to any person
in the real world is purely coincidental but if you feel that you can relate to
my posts, please feel free to imagine your nemesis’ face on the character
sketch I am about to do now of an intensely dislikable character from one of
the greatest works of fiction the world has seen, Dolores Jane Umbridge, the poisonous little toad.
“Who?”: Dolores Umbridge is a character in the series Harry
Potter, which I already feel stupid for having to point out, since Harry Potter! She is the archetypal fanatical,
rule-toting, authority-brandishing, holier-than-thou zealot of a witch! (the
witch was not only a description of her personality, she actually is a witch).
She makes her appearance in the Order of the Phoenix and though her role is limited to that one book, makes a long lasting impression on the readers’ mind. It is a fair thing to say that the fact that readers root for Severus Snape, who up to that point is one of the the most hated characters in the book, over Umbridge gives you an idea.
She makes her appearance in the Order of the Phoenix and though her role is limited to that one book, makes a long lasting impression on the readers’ mind. It is a fair thing to say that the fact that readers root for Severus Snape, who up to that point is one of the the most hated characters in the book, over Umbridge gives you an idea.
“Why the hate?”: Let’s assume for a moment
that my mini-description consisting of no less than six adjectives and four
hyphens was not clear enough, and you still can’t clearly understand what I
hate in this character.
Let’s start off with the most
obvious parts. She is a self-proclaimed authority figure who insists that she
knows best, and tries to force her will on all of her students, who can’t do
anything to her since she is in a position of power. That according to me is
the worst thing in the whole world, abuse of power. She starts by throwing her
weight around Hogwarts and trying to get things her way, punishing people out
of pure spite and making up rules to suit punishments. She has no sense of
fairness and does not care about what others think. She thinks her word is the
law, and she will fight tooth and nail to make sure it is so.
The sense of utter hopelessness she brings to the reader is like actually being in the presence of a dementor for me. She is worse, since dementors just do what they do naturally, and do not go out of their way to hurt people out of spite. They are what they are, but Umbridge is a way different proposition. The amount of effor she takes to make life a living hell for our protagonists, and therefore for us, is so profound.
I will not go into individual
examples, since that would make the post tedious and redundant, but suffice it
to say, J.K. Rowling has succeeded in creating the perfect villain with the
perfect amount of power to make the villainy happen.
“Is this deserved?”: A complete and resounding YES! This character deserves all the
hatred in the world. She is the symbol of a spineless coward who just bullies
people because of the “power”;
nothing more nothing less. The only time she actually has to defend herself and
put her wand where her mouth is, she fails miserably and that just goes on to
show that not only was she a villain, but a pathethically weak one who was just
riding the wave of power.
The way in which her rule of
tyranny ends is particularly satisfying for the reader, and provides much
needed closure and a sadistic pleasure, which for once, seems justified.
Hate-o-meter rating:
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