Character Love

When I was a little girl I read much, much more than I socialized, and so the first time I fell in love, it was not on the playground but on a the pages of a book. My first crush when I was about six years old was on Samwise Gamgee from The Lord of the Rings. At the time, I remember thinking that being around the same height would be a plus, but mostly I was in love with his humor bravery and dedication. I believe at once point I had the wedding planned. Everything was flower print. Hobbits like floral, after all.

The thing about reading a good book, especially when you’re young is that you can get absolutely lost in the world the author creates, immersed in it to a deep degree. The characters become real, perhaps more real than you are, since they are the ones who are doing deep, meaningful things, and you are the one laying on your bed reading about them. Characters especially stood out to me and I won’t lie, I fell in love over and over again throughout my childhood and never with a real person. By the time I hit 14 and met Severus Snape the internet was around and I could chat with other girls who had the same greasy, fictitious crush. It was bad company, honestly. Fights broke out. But it was fun. There was swooning involved.

Though I don’t get crushes like that as often these days, I am past the stage of being embarrassed by falling for a character in the pages of a book. What is the author’s intent if not to create a person so vivid and lifelike that we can empathize with them to a degree not unlike being in love? So on Valentines day, if you’ve ever loved a character, even a little bit, take just a moment to remember the one you left behind on the pages of a book.