Ahhh--Literature.
The Eternal Refuge of the Curious Mind.
Recently, we’ve been scouring our way through the infinite complexities and terrifying themes
that have permeated their way through both horror fiction and the wider legacy of the
narrative form, where we’ve often focused on the more apparently horrifying creations
and monsters that have long lingered in the collective nightmares that we all share.
However, as Lovecraft often reminded us--more often than not, the true essence of fear lies
within the unknown.
And when we peel back the layers of literature that aren’t exactly outwardly horrifying,
there are some staggering mysteries that are yet to be answered.
Hello horror fans--what’s going on, and once again welcome back to the scariest channel
on YouTube--Top 5 Scary Videos.
As per usual, I’ll be your horror host Jack Finch--as today, we curiously take a look
at the Top 5 Most Mysterious Characters in Literature.
Roll the clip.
For the curious amongst you, that clip was from 2007’s There Will Be Blood, featuring
the remarkable Daniel Day Lewis as the eternal terrifying enigma himself, Daniel Plainview--and
yes, he will drink your milkshake.
Now, if this list included cinema, then Plainview himself would without a doubt be up there
on our Top 5 List--but we’ll keep it with the written form.
It leads us to an interesting point, as well--because you know that we like to keep things fresh
here.
So just like our Top 5 Monsters In Literature list--we’ll be segwaying any of the works
of Stephen King, Lovecraft or Barker--purely for the fact that there’s a whole host of
mysteries to choose from.
Let’s begin, shall we?
Kicking off at Number 5 - V, V for Vendetta
And yes--literature includes graphic novels--and what better way to kick off this particular
list, than with one of the most enigmatic, complex and mysterious characters ever inked
and penned--the figure known only as V. Beneath this mask, there is an idea, Mr. Creedy--and
ideas are bulletproof.
And it is perhaps important to note, that the eternal mystery of V *is* the point of
his character entirely.
Created by the genius of Alan Moore and David Lloyd, V was never intended to be a face--but
instead, a mask to be the canvas of a symbol.
Obviously, you could argue that--what’s the point then?
He’s a mystery, cool--let’s move on.
But despite the very clear mystery of his outward appearance, that doesn’t mean that
his character isn’t equally as ambiguous.
Far from it, in fact, as the true nature of V has been a constant source of speculation
ever since his creation in 1982.
Throughout the novel, the man that V was *before* his capture and detainment at the Larkhill
Resettlement Camp is never revealed.
Not even a sniff.
All that we know is that a dystopian Britain is under the vice-like control of Norsefire,
a fascist dictatorship that has committed genocide on anyone that doesn’t fit their
doctorine--and V was one of those people.
After a series of horrific and violent medical experimentations--the man in room five was
the soul survivor, and thus begins his quest for revenge.
I mean, many of you have probably seen the 2005 interpretation of this tale, but--please
read the novel, because there’s many more themes condensed inside of it.
The thing is, we never truly understand whether V was a product of his own design--or a result
of the atrocities committed by Norsefire.
As a literary character--his strength lies in his ambiguity, where V becomes more than
just an overpowered character in a dystopian superhero graphic novel, but a faceless philosophical
answer as to the questionable nature of authority.
Coming in at Number 4 - Boo Radley, To Kill A Mockingbird
And if we’re talking about mysteries--as to whether I’m a direct descendent of Scout,
Jem and Atticus is yet to be revealed--but as it remains, the Finch family name strangely
tied me to this book at school--but surname’s aside, it's also a tale that many of you will
certainly be familiar with.
And rightly so, because Harper Lee’s resounding 1960 novel, To Kill A Mockingbird became one
of the widest taught novels in the western world.
Lee’s novel is immensely important, and her depiction of racial injustice and societal
challenge in 1930’s America still sets a Watchman to modern society--and all of that
is underpinned by the eternal fictional enigma of the reclusive Arthur Boo Radley--a character
that still holds more questions than answers.
And even after analysing every page of Lee’s novel, and understanding the fictional significance
of Radley--we can only ever catch a glimpse of the man lurking on the shadow of the porch.
On the surface, through the eyes of the young Scout Finch--Boo Radley is the stereotypical
monster at the end of the street.
In more literal terms than you may imagine--he lives in a dilapidated old house, crumbling
in disrepair, peeking behind broken windows.
Throughout the opening of the novel, as the children’s fascination with fear grows,
they tell each other tales, and Boo Radley’s monstrous legend becomes more and more grotesque.
He catches live squirrels with his bare hands and eats them raw--he traps neighbourhood
cats to cook them up in a stew.
The town of Maycomb had long whispered that Radley was a giant, violent ogre of a man--but
then, of course--that perspective quickly shifts, as Scout and Jem begin to see the
world through much clearer eyes with their new interpretation of the true injustices
in society.
I mean, I’ll try and avoid as many spoilers as possible--because I’m not in the business
of spoiling the point of one of the great American Classics--but even then, long after
To Kill A Mockingbird has left it’s impression on you, Boo Radley is like smoke on the page.
Gone?
Who knows.
Swinging in at Number 3 - The Underground Man, Notes From The Underground
Fyodor Dostoevsky is one of the greatest, most under-appreciated literary minds of the
19th century--and it took many decades before the vast majority of his works were given
the critical scrutiny and analysis of what they truly deserved.
Although primarily looked at through a lens of existential crises and the mysterious nature
of the human mind, Dostoevsky is responsible for creating some of the most significant
anti-heroes in literature, and perhaps his most telling--as well as being his most mysterious,
is the aptly titled Underground Man--the protagonist of his resounding 1864 novella, Notes From
The Underground.
He is a man with no name, who journey’s through the dark underbelly of Russian Society--in
an inexplicable attempt to find purpose in a paranoid and painful time of turmoil.
Now--listen guys, we obviously don’t want to get too bogged down in the literary themes
of Notes From The Underground--because there’s so much in there that we’d probably have
to take a chainsaw to it just to get through--but that ideological miasma serves only to prop
up the mystery of The Underground Man himself--and for a character that goes through so much
psychological turmoil, even to this day--we still know truly nothing about him.
And perhaps therein lies Dostoevsky’s point.
The Underground Man is the definition of an unreliable narrator.
We can’t trust a single word he says, because every other paragraph becomes a contradiction.
The whole point of his journey through the crawlspace of the human mind is to fruitlessly
attempt to pick at the mystery of existence--and like I said, that’s a heavy theme--but what
he finds there is entirely a matter of perspective, because after all--there is no more immediate
mystery than to know what someone else, sitting right next to you, is thinking.
Next up at Number 2 - Judge Holden, Blood Meridian
And I’ll be damned if Cormac McCarthy didn’t make this list--with perhaps his own literary
interpretation of the Devil Himself, Judge Holden.
Well, maybe anyway--because when it comes to psychopathic mystery--no one quite holds
a candle to The Judge.
In fact, the violent nature and psychological mystery of Judge Holden, with his first appearance
in McCarthy’s 1985 novel Blood Meridian, has led him to be viewed more as a supernatural
entity by fans of McCarthy’s work--rather than just a man that he often claims to be.
Claim being the definitive word.
And it’s also important to note that Judge Holden may perhaps be a real, historical figure--a
notorious criminal and ruthless murderer that roamed the borderlands of the Southern United
States in the mid 19th-century, operating alongside his band of professional scalphunter.
Because as we all know, the truth is often stranger than fiction.
As he is depicted in Blood Meridian, Judge Holden is described as being seven feet tall,
completely bare of body hair--including eyebrows and eyelashes, and with such pale skin that
it seems to have no pigment in it at all.
His strange and otherworldly appearance though only serves to perpetuate the horrifying atrocities
of his deeds.
Despite the mystery that surrounds The Judge, he is a very blatant and successful cold blooded
killer.
He is an expert marksman--a strangely beautiful musician and dancer--and is exceptionally
articulate, demonstrating an almost supernatural depth of knowledge in fields such as geology,
chemistry, archaeology and law.
It’s strange, because McCarthy chooses to paint and portray the most outwardly violent
and physically destructive character in fiction--and then choose to gift him with some of the greatest
boons that a human could hope for.
And despite that, he chooses to use these skills to serve the oppressive nature of his
evil.
Scholars have been scratching their heads as to the truth behind Judge Holden for decades--and
as far as mysteries go, McCarthy’s literary creation is a true enigma.
And finally, coming in at our Number 1 spot - Tom Bombadil, The Lord Of The Rings
And I’ve been waiting for the right time to feature this guy on one of our lists, and
truth be told--there are perhaps few other fictional characters that can rightfully claim
to be such a mystery of literature.
Tom Bombadil certainly fits that role though, so much so, that Tolkein himself refused to
comment on the true nature of the strange figure that lurks in the Old Forest, only
ever stating in public that his appearance in The Lord of the Rings trilogy served a
purpose.
What that purpose is or was?
Well, we will certainly never find a complete answer to that question, and only speculation
remains.
What do we know about Tom Bombadil?
Well, he’s a jolly figure--he’s fat--he smiles all the time and enjoys dancing, eating,
being friendly and gregarious and offering help to travellers in need: as Frodo and the
hobbits find out on their journey through Buckland.
Well--if that’s the case--he sounds exactly like a Hobbit, right?
No.
Because as explicitly stated--no Hobbit has ever heard of him, despite his relatively
close proximity to the Shire.
It’s not until the four Shireling’s make their way through the horrifying Old Forest
to find his friendly hut in a strange clearing that his existence is told.
Not even Elrond, the greatest Lore-Keeper of the Third Age knows who this entity is.
However, Elrond *is* vaguely aware that there was once a being known as Iarwain Ben-Adar--which
means Oldest and Fatherless--that lived in roughly the same area as Tom Bombadil appears.
We could speak for hours about the mysterious complexities of this character that only ever
appears in a few choice pages of Tolkein’s work--and the fact that Tolkein himself was
so tight-lipped about the true nature of his literary creation is perhaps telling of his
origin.
Maybe, that was the true intention.
Maybe it’s a mystery that not even Tolkien himself knew.
Maybe Old Tom Bombadil was meant to be the question without an answer.
Well, there we have it horror fans--our list for the Top 5 Most Mysterious Characters In
Literature.
What did you guys think?
Do you agree?
Disagree?
Have any more to add to this list?
Then let us know your picks down in the comment section below, as well as any interesting
insights that you may like to add.
Before we depart from today’s video, let’s first take a quick look at some of your more
resounding remarks from over the past few days.
First up, Niel Aranda says --
I swear senor Jack Finch, my list of must watch continues to grow with each video you
all post.
Thanks for all these top shelf recommendations.
Cheers from California.
--And, you’re very welcome Niel Aranda--glad to be of service.
I think it’s a pretty symbiotic effort too, as I can safely say the same for all you Top
5 Scary Fans.
So Cheers from me!
And finally--Jose Ortega says --
Jack probably uses the most expensivest shampoo and conditioner cause his hair is like hella
thick and bouncy.
--Well Jose…
I’ll tell you my trade secret.
I don’t use shampoo at all.
Just soap and water, man.
Oh and wind!
Wind is important.
Well, unfortunately that’s all the secrets that we have left to reveal for today’s
video--cheers for sticking around all the way until the end.
If you were a fan of this video, or just Top 5 Scary Videos in particular--then please
be a dear and hit that thumbs up button, as well as that subscribe bell, and I’ll be
seeing you in the next one.