Orphans in literature

I looked up 'orphan' on wiki. I kinda liked what I found!


Orphaned characters are extremely common as literary protagonists, especially in children's and fantasy literature.[3] The lack of parents leaves the characters to pursue more interesting and adventurous lives, by freeing them from familial obligations and controls, and depriving them of more prosaic lives. It creates characters that are self-contained and introspective and who strive for affection. Orphans can metaphorically search for self-understanding through attempting to know their roots. Parents can also be allies and sources of aid for children, and removing the parents makes the character's difficulties more severe. Parents, furthermore, can be irrelevant to the theme a writer is trying to develop, and orphaning the character frees the writer from the necessity to depict such an irrelevant relationship[citation needed]; if one parent-child relationship is important, removing the other parent prevents complicating the necessary relationship. All these characteristics make orphans attractive characters for authors.

Orphans are common in fairy tales, such as some variants of Cinderella.

Many superheroes, including Superman, Batman, Robin, Spider-Man, Wolverine, Iron Man, Storm and Daredevil, are orphans.

A number of well known authors have written books featuring orphans including Charlotte Brontë, Charles Dickens, Mark Twain, A. J. Cronin, Roald Dahl and J.K. Rowling, as well as some less well known authors of famous orphans like Little Orphan Annie and the Baudelaire siblings of the Series of Unfortunate Events. One recurring storyline has been the relationship that the orphan can have with an adult from outside his or her immediate family. Some of the most emotive works have been those featuring the relationship between a man and a boy, particularly boys that are coming of age.