Christlike Characters
· Bach, Richard.
Illusions: the adventures of a reluctant messiah
· Bach, Richard.
Jonathan Livingston Seagull is a Christ story.
· Beuchner, Frederick.
Brendan
· Card, Orson Scott.
Most of his books have a messianic character (he is a faithful Mormon;
I can't believe this was not intentional). Particularly Ender in
the Ender trilogy, and Alvin in the Alvin Maker series. There are obvious
parallels in both with the life of Jesus.
· Crane, Stephen.
Red Badge of Courage. the tall, spectral, wounded soldier in "The
Red Badge of Courage." Jim Conklin (sp?) displays symbolic features
of Christ. (His initials, his wound in palms, and many others)
· Ellison, Ralph.
Invisible Man, contains a character that is in someways Christlike.
· Endo, Shukasu.
Silence (a Japanese author).
· Faulkner, William.
Light in August the character of Joe Christmas is considered to be
a Christ-like figure in that novel.
· Faulkner, William.
The Sound and the Fury. Benjy Compson, (he is even 33 in the story)
· Garcia-Marquez, Gabrial.
"100 Years of Solitude"
· Girzone's "Joshua".
· Heinlein, Robert.
Stranger in a Strange Land (mature content but fits the bill)
· Hemingway,
The Old Man and the Sea, the comparison between Santiago and Christ was
made in some critical sources.
· Irving, John.
A Prayer for Owen Meany. Owen believes he is an instrument of God
and there are loads of Christ references/allusions.
· Jackson, Shirley.
"The Lottery Winner"
· Kesey, Ken.
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest -- McMurphy is a Christlike figure and
has, I believe, twelve followers.
· King, Stephen.
The Green Mile. It's a book for a mature reader, but definitely in
the Christ-like subject matter. John Coffey is an obvious character
to use. JC (John Coffey) is a healer and can "save" someone only
if he gets to them "in time," he takes peoples pain from them, he
is ready to die when the pain is so great, and of course there is even
a dream scene in the book where the warden dreams of being a Centurion
at the base of the cross and on the two sides are two convicts from the
green mile.
· Lee, Harper.
Boo Radley in To Kill a Mockingbird
· Lewis, C. S.
Chronicles of Narnia. Aslan the lion in the Narnia books by C.S.
Lewis.
· Lowry, Lois.
The Giver. The "receiver" is the character that is Christ like, in
that he experiences all the pain from the rest of the community onto himself.
· Melville, Herman.
Billy Budd
· Melville, Herman.
Old Man and the Sea. How about Santiago Santiago bears the mast like
a cross as he struggles up the hill. He has the stigmata in his palms.
He "dies" at sea, and then is "resurrected" on the 3rd day.
· Melville, Herman.
Ahab from Moby Dick If I remember correctly from English Lit, Melville
thought the color white (like the whale) signified evil, and Ahab's battle
with the whale was a battle with evil.
· Mitchell, Margaret.
Gone With the Wind. Melanie Hamilton Wilkes in Gone With the Wind,
by Margaret Mitchell. Melanie Wilkes was more Christ-like than an
actual Christ figure.
· Morpurgo, Michael.
The War of Jenkin's Ear is set at an English boarding school. The main
character is a boy who claims to be Jesus. It was an ALA Notable
book too.
· Spencer, Elizabeth
Spencer. The Salt Line.
· Steinbeck Grapes
of Wrath. Jim Casey in "The Grapes of Wrath"
· Tolkien, J.R.R.
Gandalf in J.R.R. Tolkein's books (I think particularly in The Two Towers
and The High King)
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| Last Updated: December 18, 2000| Copyright © 1999-
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