Characters that change us

The first character in a book who snagged a spot in my heart is a character you know. In fact, who doesn’t know The Cat in the Hat?

Yes, the book’s plot is fun and told in clever rhyme. The illustrations are entertaining. But it’s the character that stays in our heart. Google “Cat in the Hat” and there are 783,000,000 references to our dear friend. Continue to search for “Cat in the Hat costumes” and you’ll find 43,500,000 related results.

The book was published in 1957. Sixty-two years later, individuals like to dress up like the Cat in the Hat. Why is this character still popular?

Readers like and relate to the Cat in the Hat.

The crazy cat caught our attention. He wasn’t like others. He was a child’s playful anarchist. Fun at any cost! Ignore the rules! We liked him. He was a bad cat.

But before we scold him too much, look at what we liked. He wore a funny hat, had strange ideas, and was nice. He had good intentions. He tried to bring fun to bored children. He threw out the rules, but he didn’t intend harm.

Remember the fish who scolded a lot? Give the cat credit. He caught the fish in a pot. (He could have let the little nag die on the floor.) Despite a short plot, The Cat in the Hat made a strong impression with depth of character.

Readers liked his silly antics and related to his flaws.  “Look at me. Look at me. Look at me now. It is fun to have fun but you have to know how.” Juggling an odd assortment of items, the risky cat jumped on a ball until …oooops.  We saw everything fall. He made a mess. Like we all do.

Mary Cole, author of Writing Irresitible Kidlit, read gazillions of manuscripts as a literary agent.  In her book, Cole stresses, “We want characters to grab us because we recognize ourselves in them.”

 Intuitively as a child, we understood making bad choices in order to have fun, so we liked the cat and related to him.

After packing up Thing One and Thing Two, the Cat in the Hat left with a sad kind of look. Why? The fish scorned the cat and the children didn’t appreciate him. He was ordered to leave even though he had meant good. Characters who suffer become our favorite.

And then, to all our giggles… the Cat in the Hat came back. To our shock, he picked up all the things that were down. He picked up the cake, and the rake, and the gown. The Cat in the Hat returned—as a better cat.

Endearing characters do more than survive conflict, they change. They wrestle through situations or relationships and become better for it.

Did the Cat in the Hat’s heart change? It could be argued that the cat believed from the beginning of the story that it’s good to pick up toys. He put them away, then he said, That is that.” And then he was gone with a tip of his hat. 

All I can say is: The Cat in the Hat changed me.

He made me love books.

Share some of your favorite characters and their books in the comment box, and your name will be in our monthly drawing for a free book!

Blessings! Gretchen Carlson gretchencarlsonwriter@gmail.com gretchen-carlson.com