Which Character Do You Prefer?

[AWANDO OGUTU]

I'm not a fan of comparing who does what or who does not perfect his role within a novel. I'm opined that both characters played an integral part in the development of the novel.

[Subhangi Samal]

I prefer Duke. Obviously as Duke is the main protagonist he acted as the main attention gainer for me. The story centers around Duke and the circus life. It is the story of how Duke came to be a sword swallower, which I found to be quite interesting.

[drunyan]

I liked both characters. I admired the Duke for the bits of wisdom that he shared with Gary, and for his sword-swallowing performances. His ability to do this probably provided an adrenaline rush that enabled him to do this time after time.

As for Gary, well, he reminds me of the students of my college days. We often weren't thinking very far ahead, weighing the long-term consequences of each thing we did, experimented with a lot of things (not just drugs and alcohol.) I tried out a lot of ideas of who I might be, how I could get along better with other people, how to share information (or not!), how to spend my spare time, and what kind of people I wanted to be around, etc. This is part of the maturing process of a young adult, not just college students. It's identity formation.

One of my good friends got married in college, she moved into the married student housing. She invited me to come to a party at her house. I was young and naive, and thought she meant a party, like with games, snacks, and some good conversation. I am very introverted, and it took a lot of coaxing on her part, just to get me to walk through the door, and be in a group. I was trying on a new behavior, that of fitting in (I never did in my younger days). Someone spiked the "unspiked" punch, and before I knew it, I was trying out another new behavior!

Some young adults try a behavior one time, and realize that it's not the way they want to be, and then there are those of us who are slow learners. In this book, Gary was one of the latter.

[Cristal2408]

Duke will be the guy. Besides being the protagonist, he was a likable character and his story overall was very interesting.

[SparklesonPages]

I found Duke more compelling . He is mature and has figured out who he is and where he wants to be in life. I found Gary overbearing. He was just too much to handle at times.

[Rosemary Wright]

I prefer Gary. In spite of his shortcomings, he is an interesting, likable, and funny character. I enjoyed reading about him.

[Richard Whitehead]

Duke is more likeable to me than Gary. I felt like identifying with him.

[Richard Whitehead]

I found Duke more compelling . He is mature and has figured out who he is and where he wants to be in life. I found Gary overbearing. He was just too much to handle at times.

I also found Gary to be a very good character.

[Richard Whitehead]

Since Duke is the key protagonist, most of the story is centered around him and so he is the most likeable character.

[LaurenHaupt]

Duke. Duke is crazy and a lot more memorable.

[Stanley Ann]

I liked Duke more because he faces life maturely.

[OloladeO]

I honestly can't identify with either character but I will go with Duke.

[Anthony Martial Tata]

Duke, he is more mature than Gary even though Gary is highly learned.

[Nma26]

I prefer Duke.Duke is a more realistic character than Gary Robinson.

[amandathebibliophile]

Gary was sort of a sad and slightly comical character for me, and I thought Duke had more substance. I liked him (Duke) even more once he got sober and had real wisdom to share. Gary was interesting, but compared to Duke, was less redeeming.