Throwback Thursday: My Favorite Fictional Friendships
I've decided to start bringing some of my favorite old posts back from the recesses of the blog. This is definitely for sentimental reasons, and certainly has nothing to do with the fact that college is taking up too much time and brain power for me to write interesting new posts... wink, wink. Anyway, here's one of my favorite "favorites" posts from back in the day!
Friendships can be everything from awesome to complicated to painful, and that's just as true in fiction as in real life. At least for me, reading (and watching) about friends who stick together in good times and bad, who encourage each other and are honest with each other, is incredibly inspiring and gives me more warm fuzzies than a romance ever has. Here are my absolute favorite friendships in fiction.
Dorothea Duckfontein Dillworthy and Lord Brocktree, from Lord Brocktree by Brian Jacques
At first, Dorothea (or "Dotti") the extraverted hare and Lord Brocktree the solemn badger lord don't get on well, but as they fight together and help each other out of fixes, they bond. When Dotti has to challenge an arrogant mountain hare for his throne, Lord Brocktree does his best to prepare her and believes she can win even when everyone else doubts her. Their relationship is at the core of this book, one of my favorites of the Redwall series.
The Prince and the Aviator, from The Little Prince by Antoine de St.-Exupery
"Please, draw me a sheep." Thus begins this beautiful, bittersweet friendship. In the little prince, the aviator finds hope in the midst of the desert and a reminder that his grown-up worries might not be so important after all. In the aviator, the little prince finds the first grown-up who has understood him at all. The Little Prince really isn't a story so much as a picture of this friendship and how it changes them both. Of course, to truly understand what makes it so wonderful, you have to read the book.
The Fellowship, from The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien
At first, I was only going to mention Sam and Frodo's relationship, which is easily the most inspiring, heartwarming fictional friendship I've ever seen. But the Fellowship also includes Legolas and Gimli's friendly rivalry, Gandalf's mentoring of Frodo, Merry and Pippin's partners in crime relationship, and Aragorn and Boromir's brotherhood of arms. How could I go without mentioning any of those? So the Nine Walkers all go on my list... with an asterisk by Sam and Frodo.
Alan Breck Stuart and David Balfour, from Kidnapped by Robert Louis Stevenson
Allan and David are two very different people, thrown together by circumstance- they're both present at an English nobleman's assassination. Allan, as a Jacobite, is a legitimate suspect, while David is of the opposite mindset politically and only suspect by association. As they go on the run together, their contrasting personalities and beliefs cause plenty of conflict- but they remain loyal to each other and eventually forge a strong friendship.
Honorable mentions:
Han Solo and Luke Skywalker from Star Wars
Aravis and Shasta from The Horse and His Boy by C.S. Lewis
Anne Shirley and Diana Barry from Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery
Martin the Warrior and Gonff, Prince of Mousethieves from the Redwall books by Brian Jacques
