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you are what you read

Posted by William F. DeVault | Filed under Journal

I was speaking with my friend Thomas (St. Thomas, you may recall, I call him from time to time). He asked me what fictional or historical figure I most identified with. I couldn’t answer him with just one name. So it occurred to me that I have been subtly influenced by, subtly resonant with, dozens of fictional and/or historical figures of whom I have read, heard of or seen television or films of.

I decided to sit down and make an off-the-top-of-my-head list of such people. I ended up, at first blush, with 55 of them, making sure I only used historical figures who are now dead (to avoid lawsuits and related BS).

So I randomized the list, to make things interesting, and here it is. In some way or another each of these individuals, whether they were real or summoned from the mind of another writer, influenced me, the way I act, the way I view the world, the insights I have. It is not an exhaustive list, the full list is probably a hundred times longer and more diverse (although any list that includes Joe Gideon, Jesus Christ and Keyser Soze has to be pretty diverse, you know?):

  • Arthur Peabody Goodpasture,
  • Vlad Tepes,
  • Viscount de Valmont,
  • Elliot Garfield,
  • Keyser Soze,
  • Marcus Tullius Cicero,
  • Tom Sawyer,
  • Ellen Ripley,
  • Penrod Schofield,
  • Jesus Christ,
  • Jeremiah,
  • Ulysses,
  • Jerry Cornelius,
  • Professor Ransom,
  • Macaulay Connor,
  • Job,
  • Charity Hope Valentine,
  • Edgar Allan Poe,
  • Percy Bysshe Shelley,
  • Jed Bartlet,
  • Edmund Dantes,
  • Jean Valjean,
  • Robin Hood,
  • Robinson Crusoe,
  • Michael Corleone,
  • Steve Rogers,
  • Scott Summers,
  • Screwtape,
  • Hercule Savinien Cyrano de Bergerac,
  • Henry McCoy,
  • George Gordon, Lord Byron,
  • Abel,
  • Barton,
  • Will Graham,
  • Gowan McGland,
  • Patient V,
  • Tyler Durden,
  • Henry Plantagenet,
  • T.E. Lawrence,
  • Joe Gideon,
  • Jack Celliers,
  • Ramon Guerola,
  • Quasimodo,
  • Teddy Roosevelt,
  • Theophilus North,
  • Johnny Quest,
  • Inspector Juvet,
  • Rocky Balboa,
  • TS Garp,
  • Inspector Dauphin,
  • Froggy,
  • Sir Galahad,
  • Auguste Rodin,
  • D’artagnan,
  • Comte de le Fère

Note that some are names that may be obscure to most readers. Single named individuals may confuse you as you may or may not be on the same page as me in identifying the source material.

But each and every one of these people have influenced me to some degree (I like to think Jesus more than Michael Corleone). In a way this has been a very interesting psychological exercise, and startling to me, as I see what aspects of these characters I find within myself or my worldview. Some influenced me in ways you might find unexpected or not in keeping with what first comes to mind when you think of them.

Criminals, madmen, writers, philosophers and the Son of God. Two women made the list. Both Valjean and Juvet. Three superheroes. A few

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Permalink | September 5th, 2008

One Response to “you are what you read”

  1. demystifying the obvious | City of Legends Says:
    September 24th, 2008 at 9:00 am

    […] where individuals have become confused over some of the names I used in my recent posting ( you are what you read )about characters that have had some influence in my development. Sigh. But having come to grips […]

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