If you have a love for discussing stories and fiction as much as I do, then it’s likely you’ve heard at least a few stories being dismissed due to there being “no likeable characters”. It’s certainly a fair argument, mainly because people need to be able to feel some form of positive attachment to a character to be able to care about what happens to them.
However, I’m an advocate for stories full of unlikable characters. I feel like these stories are able to accurately project the harsh realities we face in life, and the types of people we deal with in society. There are writers with enough talent to draw you into a world full of nasties and make you care enough about the consequences, and at this point it’s no longer just about the characters, it’s about making statement on humanity.
I’d like to use my favourite TV show “The Wire” for reference. The Wire is a show with drug dealers, corrupt politicians, crooked cops, lazy cops, and immoral people from all walks of life. But although not many of the characters are typically likeable (from their actions), the writing in the show is so powerful that you actually care about the consequences. By the end of the show’s lifespan you can look back at the entire story as a study of the city of Baltimore. It becomes less of a story about characters on the opposite side of the moral compass, and more of an artistic overview on human psychology, and this is a style of writing I can really appreciate.
Writers who have the power to harness unlikeable characters can display the ignorance of humanity in such a way that it causes you to think more critically about life. At this stage it all comes down to whether you just want to read for personal enjoyment, or whether you want your literature to invoke layers of moral thinking from you.
I’m not at all saying that there’s no room for likeable protagonists in my fiction, because at the end of the day we all get satisfaction out of seeing our heroes overcome the odds. But I feel like readers should refrain from slamming a book just because none of the characters were likeable. Fair enough, there are legitimately books out there with no likeable characters and no good storytelling to stand upon. But I’ve seen the likes of Liane Moriarty’s The Husband’s Secret be put down for its lack of likeable characters, but after reading it I found that it was the writing of the story itself that stole the show. Liane had her own unique way of making you care enough to read on about these unpleasant people and their perfectly spoiled lives, and I appreciated it immensely.
Share your thoughts on unlikeable vs likable characters in books and stories
Are you someone who needs to care about one (or more) characters to get through a story? Then I’d love to hear from you in the comments. If you agree with me then let us know some examples of stories you’ve read (or watched) that didn’t have likeable characters but you still enjoyed.
