I am puzzled at the number of redheads in fiction. From Anne of Green Gables and Tom Sawyer to Eleanor & Park, Page by Paige, Fancy Nancy, Gwinna and the Weasleys in Harry Potter. It may be more prominent in Young Adult fiction, but MG has its own share too.
Think about it, less than four percent of the total population has redhead and still many MG heroes have redheads, even when their parents have dark hair themselves!
Is it because that makes the hero unique? I have to look at one of my friends’ and her kids being singled out everywhere to be convinced. They go somewhere and everybody turns around to look at them and I cannot count the oh and ah they get when people look at their red hair.
However, in fiction, none of the heroes have problems dealing with the sun, gotten pet by strangers or blush crimson from head to foot, have freckles, been called “Reds” instead of their names or have problems hiding in a crowd. I wonder if redhead is just considered beautiful or if it is just that fantasy fiction is often based on the Viking culture where people, traditionally, have red hair.
SOLUTIONS:
Whatever it is. Stop that, right now.
“Away with their heads!”
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Resources:
“Red-headed Hero.”
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/RedHeadedHero
“Weird Facts About Redheads” by Lisa Collier Cool. Yahoo Health. February 2013.
http://health.yahoo.net/experts/dayinhealth/weird-facts-about-redheads
“Fiery Facts About Redheads” by Katy Kerns.
http://www.everydayhealth.com/skin-and-beauty-pictures/6-fiery-facts-about-redheads.aspx#/slide-9
Think about it, less than four percent of the total population has redhead and still many MG heroes have redheads, even when their parents have dark hair themselves!
Is it because that makes the hero unique? I have to look at one of my friends’ and her kids being singled out everywhere to be convinced. They go somewhere and everybody turns around to look at them and I cannot count the oh and ah they get when people look at their red hair.
However, in fiction, none of the heroes have problems dealing with the sun, gotten pet by strangers or blush crimson from head to foot, have freckles, been called “Reds” instead of their names or have problems hiding in a crowd. I wonder if redhead is just considered beautiful or if it is just that fantasy fiction is often based on the Viking culture where people, traditionally, have red hair.
SOLUTIONS:
Whatever it is. Stop that, right now.
“Away with their heads!”
--------------------------
Resources:
“Red-headed Hero.”
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/RedHeadedHero
“Weird Facts About Redheads” by Lisa Collier Cool. Yahoo Health. February 2013.
http://health.yahoo.net/experts/dayinhealth/weird-facts-about-redheads
“Fiery Facts About Redheads” by Katy Kerns.
http://www.everydayhealth.com/skin-and-beauty-pictures/6-fiery-facts-about-redheads.aspx#/slide-9