Okay, ladies now let’s get in formation! Women’s month is about to lay off, but I’m sure there are lots of things we can still do to celebrate and value women around the world, they may be…fictional or real.
Books are always a magical gateway to transfer our conscious minds to a world where characters mirror our innermost emotions and desires. It can sometimes show things that we are not familiar with before or it simply introduces strong women characters that elicit their powerful personalities and stronghold of a belief. So, here are 5 characters from a book that scream power “Women!”
Anne Shirley in Anne of Green Gables
Anne is such an eccentric character in a way that she embodies carefreeness and at the same time, she is many things rolled into one fine woman. She’s intelligently poetic, ambitious, imaginative, and more or less, sensitive. Anne has always been a character well-loved by people who have read the books. But here’s the catch, Anne is also popularized in the adapted Netflix series from the book called “Anne with an E”. If you wish to watch, beware of the bad news…because the show was canceled. I know, sad.
Katniss Everdeen in The Hunger Games
I see you, Tributes! Talk about power, right? Katniss Everdeen is definitely included as one of the characters that scream a deafening “Women!”, but I think we can all agree that Katniss is one hell of a woman to even aim at her devilish dilemmas. From protecting her sister and her family to surviving The Hunger Games, she has got the spectrum of strength covered! Oh, well…since it’s out in the open, the new Hunger Games film, yes?
Kya Clark in Where The Crawdads Sing
As you might have heard or seen, the book Where The Crawdads Sing recently had a film adaptation in 2022 (it’s a must-watch!). I can already hear the Swifties croon the song Carolina by Taylor Swift, but let’s not talk about that. Let’s talk about Catherine Danielle Clark or her unsolicited moniker the “marsh girl” of North Carolina.
Kya pretty much grew up alone in the marsh and it was her only friend. She was burdened to survive alone with no one to talk to, with no one to teach her things like a normal 6-year-old deserves to learn. For Kya’s family, it was a no-no!
Her story depicts a self-made woman whose intelligence was dependent on how one can learn all by themselves, as they please. While Kya’s story is honestly woeful, she was able to make the best of her situation. That’s right! She can do it! And that’s the thing that makes her powerful. Her loneliness. Her grasp for imagination and the search for poetry in everything. Her endurance and her pain. After all, Taylor Swift was right, “I make a fist, I'll make it count”. Kya definitely made it count in her remaining days…iykyk!
Aza Holmes in Turtles All The Way Down
Though young, Aza’s character positively mirrors a strong young lady who is conflicted with anxiety, and normal young love problems. But most of all, her struggles with loss and mental issues are the marks of her power. Her power to take over her own feelings and acknowledging that she is in the loop of her “spiraled thoughts”. Aza is the embodiment of accepting that being not okay is okay.
Liesel Meminger in The Book Thief
There is no better woman to single-handedly terrify death itself amidst bloodshed and war. Liesel Meminger is a young girl who suffered under the horror-stricken events of World War II in Germany. Just like Aza in Turtles, Liesel also, at a young age, experienced the great feeling of loss after losing his brother.
The first thing you need to know about the complete candid situation of Liesel is she is illiterate and practically alone while ironically accompanied by death as her life narrator. One thing I love about Liesel’s character is how words shaped her entire belief system. She says:
“I have hated words and I have loved them, and I hope I have made them right.”
It expresses that people often fail to remember that words are just as powerful as actions. Liesel has heard multiple terrifying words that were used to inflict pain on people, and she made sure that learning to own the words she will hear and learn about will turn into a story–alone or accompanied–which death can never hold.
As the women’s month leaps off, may these powerful women remind us that there is no weakness in taking over your power and womanhood. There is always a room for women to learn, empower, and resist whatever hinders them from soaring. Together, let’s celebrate women’s all-embracing beauty.
What about you? Who do you think passes the “Women!” vibe? Let me know your insights in the comment section below!
