A Reader’s Question: Is it important for protagonists to be likeable?
td Whittle
Posted on March 9, 2013
“This is not a novel to be tossed aside lightly. It should be thrown with great force.” ― Dorothy Parker, The Algonquin Wits Today, while perusing Goodreads, I became interested in a thread about John Kennedy Toole’s picaresque novel, A Confederacy of Dunces , which a couple of readers declared they’d set aside unfinished, because they did not like the main characters. I love A Confederacy of Dunces for many reasons, but I would say that the likeableness of Ignatius, Irene, and Myrna the Minx had little to do with my overall enjoyment and appreciation of the book. I am not sure that I even asked myself questions about their personal charms (or lack thereof) while reading it, except for considering that a woman would have to have…