Post 9: Characters

The book, The Lucky One, by Nicholas Sparks has three narrators; Logan, more commonly known by his last name Thibault, Beth, and Beth’s ex-husband Keith Clayton. Nicholas Sparks does a great job of making the narrators Beth and Thibault really likable but added Clayton as the opposite. Thibault is caring, sensitive, and a great guy overall. On the other hand there is  Keith Clayton a rude, corrupt police officer, who also happens to be Beth’s ex-husband and the father of Beth's son.  Beth is a skeptical mother of a 10 year old boy who hires Logan to work at her dog kennel. 

Jennifer Weiner argues on the side of genre fiction, saying that she likes when she feels like she is friends with the narrator; which is exactly how you feel with both Thibault and Beth. They both possess characteristics that anyone would look for in a friend and their budding romance gives you something to hope for in the book. On the contrary, Keith Clayton gives you a type of villain, or someone to root against. He is manipulative and conniving towards Beth’s personal life, all while doing it just under her nose.

Logan easily connects with Beth’s son Ben, which helps to show what a good guy he is in the book. He allows Ben to play with his dog, Zeus and teaches him all the games that Zeus likes to play. Logan passes his lucky charm that he has had for five years on to Ben with the promise that it will keep him safe. Thibault ultimately risks his own life to save Ben, showing that he is not only caring but brave and heroic.

Not only did this book have likable narrators but it also had one that was not very likable. Keith Clayton was not likeable because he would manipulate men out of dating his ex-wife, Beth, leaving her feeling like there was something wrong with her. Clayton and Beth’s son, Ben, has an obvious dislike for his father because of the unattainable expectations he has set. Clayton is disappointed in Ben because Ben would rather play violin or chess than play sports.  Clayton’s portrayed as a slimy, no good character, obviously meant to be disliked by the reader.