Question on Relatability and its Effects on Literary Enjoyment

[John Q. Mountebank]

When reading whatever kind of fiction intrigues you (I'm a science-fiction fan, myself) do you find it easier to appreciate and enjoy a book when you relate with a protagonist in a complete way (as if they are a similar MBTI type with similar traits and et cetera) or when they act as a counterpoint to you? Personally, I tend to find myself becoming more enraptured and involved when I see a great deal of myself in a character, but have a much easier time digesting and frivolously enjoying a book when looking in upon a character with vastly different ideas on life.

As a secondary question: There are a great deal of attempts to type fictional characters, which I find near impossible considering how sparse and varied the information necessary can be. However, what I do find pertinent and interesting is which character in literature you relate to without the 'interference' of typology. Thus my question is--Which literary character do you yourself relate to the most?

 

[Wolf18]

Hello, welcome to the forum. I'm a sci-fi fan, too, and agree with you that relatable characters draw me into a book, while I tend to have more fun with books that have characters with whom I don't relate.

Your question is a difficult one. I'd have to say a draw between Sherlock Holmes and Scout Finch (To Kill a Mockingbird).

SW

 

[Cognisant]

A relatable character is easy to enjoy, insofar as least as competent as me or if not there's given reason why, y'know if NGE was a written book rather than Anime or Manga reading the story from Shinji's perspective would be a drag, likewise reading from the perspective of a character who is dissimilar to me can be enjoyable, as long as the character isn't the sort of person who would annoy me in real life if I met them.

I suppose it all comes down to suspension of disbelief, I mean I've read some stories from the perspective of an alien or artificial intelligence and I enjoyed them, insofar as the characters were internally consistent, y'know if a gentle contentious alien suddenly succumbs to instinct and rips someone's throat out I expect the alien to either be traumatised or have a better excuse than "instincts made me do it".