Feature & Follow #8

I am trying to increase my readership and gain new followers, so I have signed up for this meme, hosted by Parajunkee’s View and Alison Can Read. Visit either of their posts to see who else is taking part.

I would especially appreciate 'likes' for my Facebook Page.

Activity: Who is your favorite villain from a book?

This is a tough one, because it all depends on what makes someone a ‘villain’. I am going to chose a character that is first introduced to us as a vicious, uncaring killer but who later shows that he is capable of loyalty and decency. This complexity of character is what I find so appealing about him. There are good reasons for all of his behavior, both good and bad, showing that he is not simply an ‘evil’ person, but a product of circumstances.

Sandor Clegane, known as The Hound, is at first presented as a totally irredeemable character in George R.R. Martin’s A Game of Thrones. However, as the series continues we see him develop an affection of sorts for poor Sansa Stark, whom he shields from some of her ‘beloved’ Joffrey’s worst treatment. He is also the only person to think of her safety when the King’s party is attacked by a screaming horde of peasants in A Clash of Kings. This saves her from the vicious gang rape that another highborn lady suffers. When his fear of fire overwhelms him, he turns his back on his abominable king and offers to help Sansa escape, although she refuses to go with him.

 

In A Storm of Swords, he reappears as a drunk who is disgusted by his earlier life, but takes the opportunity to seize Arya Stark, whom he believes will gain him a reward from her family. I find it very telling that he does not even consider returning to the King to claim a reward for finding one of his enemy’s family members. Although he is rough and brutal, he does protect Arya, and saves her from the massacre after the Red Wedding, by preventing her from disclosing her identity. Our final view of The Hound is when Arya lives him injured under a tree in the Trident. However, there are some very heavy hints in A Feast For Crows that he has become a brother in a monastery on the Quiet Isle, so I am fairly certain that we will see him again . . . . I do hope so!