My Favorite Characters from Books and Movies (List 2)

I think I've made it clear in the past that I am a list maker.  I have a running to-do list that I update every day.  I make lists of places I want to go, things I want to do, books I want to read.  Lots of lists.  So when I heard about the 52 Lists Project, I was IN.  I used some Christmas money to buy myself the journal, and I've already started using it.  I LOVE it.  It's a great Sunday activity, a way to give myself time to reflect and ponder. 

I also decided after flipping through the book that it would be fun to share it on the blog.  A weekly prompt, all in one little book.  What a perfect way to write more here.

List 1 was about my goals and dreams for this year.  I already posted a bit about that.  On to list 2.

"List your favorite characters from books, movies, etc"

• Robert E. Lee (The Killer Angels)
• Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain (The Killer Angels)
• Marie-Laure LeBlanc (All the Light We Cannot See)
• Neville Longbottom (the Harry Potter series)
• Elinor Dashwood (Sense and Sensibility)
• Konstantin Levin (Anna Karenina)
• Moana ("Moana")
• Belle ("Beauty and the Beast)
• Corrie ten Boom (The Hiding Place)
• Lucy Pevensie (The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe) 
• Jean Valjean (Les Miserables) 
• Esther (from the Bible)
• Jo March (Little Women)
• Harriet Hamsterbone (the Hamster Princess series)
• Nicolas (Le Petit Nicolas)
• Matilda (Matilda)
• Despereaux (The Tale of Despereaux)
• Anne Shirley (Anne of Green Gables)
• Marry Lennox (The Secret Garden)
• Juli Baker (Flipped)
• Calvin (Calvin and Hobbes)

This list was surprisingly hard to come up with.  First you have the problem of so many beloved books.  It's hard to keep track of all the books I've read and loved.  And then you have the added difficultly of finding a character that you love.  I could think of a number of beloved books wherein the characters weren't really people I admired or wanted to be like. 

Notice, more than half of these characters are women.  I love to read a book (or see a movie) with a strong female role.  I like girls with pluck, with gumption.  Girls who are unafraid to stand for what's right, or do hard things to help other people.  I find that particularly telling when I don't feel that way about myself.  Gumption and pluck are two words that would never be used to describe me.  I'm not very brave, and I don't like to be a leader.  Whenever I'm asked to take on a leadership role, my first thought is, "Well that's a terrible idea."  I much prefer to be the person smoothing things over, making everyone happy, from my nice comfy seat in the crowd.  Maybe I wish I was more like these characters I love so well.  Maybe I should work a little harder to be a little braver.

Or maybe I'll just read about it from the comfort of my bed.  I am in hibernation mode, after all.  That's what January is for, isn't it?

Who are some of your favorite characters?  Have you ever wished to be more brave?  Have you ever found a way to actually BE more brave?