I'm sick of Mary Sues and Gary Stus (hello Bella and Edward)?

Question

so what are some REAL character flaws that you've read about in other books you've read?

Please don't talk about Twilight, I just mentioned them in the title because they are currently the most popular mary sue/gary stu characters today.

For those of you that don't now, a Mary sue is an incredibly perfect or cliche character (aka pretty, tons of guys like her, she's good at almost everything, by some WEIRD CHANCE the hot guy int he school liks HER etc etc)

if you're12 just look at your own main character and you'll understand =]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Sue

Answer 1

Jose Arduello ummm... I forgot his last name... from A hundred years of solitude.

He's SO absorbed in his work in Alchemy and discovering the ocean and new land that he fails to see his sons grow up, doesn't realize his wife has run away until the next day, and through all his work loses all the money he has buying new things that will 'make him rich'.

^_^ He's adorable.  

Answer 2

Jay Gatsby in The Great Gatsby- full of hope but too blinded by love. Believes that material gifts will be enough.

Elizabeth in Les Enfants Terribles- too involved in her sinister fantasy games and jealously protective of her brother, to an excessive extent.

Lennie in Of Mice and Men- sweet and gentle but because he has learning  difficulties and is very strong, he kills things by accident.

Answer 3

im sorry but i have to say this

i dont think Bella or Edward are mary sues and gary stu..why? because they have more flaws that you and me put together.

for me a mary sue or gary stu are FLAWLESS

=s

bring the thumbs down i dont care...

Answer 4

Henchard from The Mayor of Casterbridge.  He basically sets himself up for failure by giving away his wife and child, and he tries to make up for that.  But he lies to Elizabeth-Jane and that is unforgiveable.  However, he is such a sympathetic character at the same time because you can tell he loves E-J.

Answer 5

true true...I like the book but ur right! I thought the EXACT same thing! Its like I posted the question!

Answer 6

Madame Bovary. She wants so much to wealthy and important, she yearns - almost childishly - for passionate love affairs, and more or less ruins her husband with her selfish desires.

Mr. Darcy. What a jerk, right? It takes a wonderfully flawed woman to help him get past his own bad temper.

And don't forget one of the most defining aspects of a Mary Sue - it's the author's self-insert into their own writing. Bella looks exactly like Meyer, who I'm sure would have loved to be the popular but totally unique girl in HS who won the love of the handsome, mysterious, brooding, romantic boy that no one else could get. Bella is Meyer's self-insert and Edward is her wish-fulfillment hero.