I need a famous literary character who fails to self-reflect

Bravo · Jun 15, 2009

and perhaps keeps on making the same mistakes. it doesn't matter where this character is from, whether it's from a greek tragedy or a modern comic book, just something that is somewhat recognizable.

i'm drawing a blank.

thank you

poetinahat · Jun 15, 2009

Dorian Gray.

(Or Count Dracula - you know, the mirror thing: you see, - ah, forget it...)

Bravo · Jun 15, 2009

and no one better say my name here...

Bravo · Jun 15, 2009

who the heck is dorian gray?

Fokker Aeroplanbau · Jun 15, 2009

The Question... Was the predecessor to Rorshach. You could use Rorshach as well, but The Question was more Objectivist thus a better tie-in then the casually psychotic Rorshach.

Basically every character from The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged. Roark, Rearden, Ellis Wyatt, Francisco d'Anconia and most of all: John Galt.

If you're looking for a character like you described - you must have to use something from Ayn Rand.

It's fact.

poetinahat · Jun 15, 2009

Bravo said:
who the heck is dorian gray?

Never mind. Maybe you'd better just stick with Wile E. Coyote.

eta:

Bravo · Jun 15, 2009

that's perfect!!

thank you

p.s. i love you.

Tanya Egan Gibson · Jun 15, 2009

What, exactly, do you mean by "fails to self-reflect"? Like the emperor in The Emperor's New Clothes?

Bravo · Jun 15, 2009

someone who keeps making the same mistakes, and continuously suffers because of that.

i just decided, 3.56 seconds ago, that wile coyote isn't really perfect for this, since i want the suffering to be explicitly due to the person's lack of self-awareness, not a formidable enemy.

scarletpeaches · Jun 15, 2009

Bravo said:
who the heck is dorian gray?

Please tell me you're kidding.

poetinahat · Jun 15, 2009

How about Ebenezer Scrooge, before the ghosts?

Chase · Jun 15, 2009

You're saying the road runner is a formidable enemy? Come on! Wile E. is his own worst enemy, because he fails to "self-reflect." Quick, send for a mirror from Acme One-Way Mirror Company.

Or check out Oscar Wilde's novel, The Picture of Dorian Grey. Dorian is Wile E Coyote's alter ego.

Bravo · Jun 15, 2009

no, i know that wile e. is own worst enemy, i just don't want an antagonist that keeps getting away like that. it'll defeat the purpose of what i'm trying to do.

maybe i'll use this dorien gray character even though i know nothing about him/her.

i'll just wiki wing it.

thank you

mscelina · Jun 15, 2009

Scarlett O'Hara. "I'll think about that tomorrow" doesn't really count as self-reflection.

backslashbaby · Jun 15, 2009

Mathieu Delarue from Sartre's The Age of Reason. Or any of the existentialist antiheroes, really. Not so famous, maybe? I dont know if you can use it, but that's their schtick, anyway

brokenfingers · Jun 15, 2009

Charlie Brown. With Lucy and the football.

Smiling Ted · Jun 15, 2009

Zap Brannigan.

Or Emma Bovary.

Stew21 · Jun 15, 2009

Self-destructs because he doesn't self-reflect

Sebastian from Brideshead Revisited.

Any character from Vile Bodies by Evelyn Waugh

F. Scott Fitzgerald - from his real life

frimble3 · Jun 15, 2009

Agreeing with mscelina, Scarlett was my immediate thought when I read the title of the thread. No forethought, about men, family, or public perception. She don't know what she got 'til it's gone.

Stew21 · Jun 15, 2009

What about Ophelia? or Daisy Buchanan?

Cyia · Jun 15, 2009

Bravo said:
who the heck is dorian gray?

Oh.

My.

God.

Edit: Just in case you're serious:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Picture_of_Dorian_Gray

MacAllister · Jun 15, 2009

Ahab.

"I would strike the sun if it insulted me."

Stew21 · Jun 15, 2009

Dang, Mac. That one seemed so obvious after you said it, but I completely missed it.

Bravo · Jun 15, 2009

i could only get through the first paragraph and a half of that book.

but i have a feeling that's a great choice.

thanks, mac.

blacbird · Jun 15, 2009

Alex, in A Clockwork Orange, maybe. But Mac nailed it with the best one I can think of.

caw

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