Doing a project for my english class, got any ideas :D

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So the for the theme of my english final project is "The Anti Hero"

I have to present a seminar and an essay comparing and analyzing various protagonists who fit the description of the anti hero.

I was wondering if anybody had some books to suggest, I had a few in mind such as Catcher in the Rye, Huckleberry Finn, and The Crucible, however I was wondering if the main characters from High Fidelity and The unbearable Lightness of being would fit.

What are your suggestions and thoughts?

Thanks in advance

Assuming that an anti-hero is a guy who gets screwed by life, perhaps Gulliver from Gulliver's Travels, Voltaire's Candide, and even Don Quixote might fit. And how about Smith from "1984". And perhaps Portnoy from "Portnoy's Complaint" and Humbert Humbert in Nabokov's "Lolita". And there's Nunez in H.G.Well's story "The Country of the Blind" and perhaps even Dr. Frankenstein or even his monster.

in all my short stories, and now the novels im writing, i always focus on anti heroes

in my personal opinion, the anti hero is the best character to relate to, cus he is complex.
he has a goal, and a mission, often for the good. but because of his shady background, his methods are often similarily unorthodox.

a HERO is impossible to identify with. try identifying with superman. a hero is a rolemodel, someone you are not, but that you want to be, and look up to.

the ANTIhero, is someone you CAN identify with, because he is imperfect. often, you are just like him, and therefore sympathize more easily.

i havent read too many fictional books tho, but based on the movie, i'd say both tyler durden and "jack" are the anti-hero of "fight club".

Frankenstein's monster is definitely a strong contender for a complex anti-hero with substance. Dr. Frankenstein himself might work to a lesser extent, although in all honesty I'd think him closer to an anti-villain.

Hannibal Lecter is also a great choice.

If you don't have to stick to novels, try doing Vegeta. I'd pay to read that one!

And don't neglect the super anti-hero King Kong and perhaps the phantom of the opera and Quasimodo. And, of course, Hemingway's Robert Jordan in "For Whom the Bell Tolls" In real life the painter Van Gogh and the scientist Galileo might qualify.
And H.G.Welles invisible man.

What about Richard III of Shakespeare?

Than you could go a step further and show how Shakespeare gave a wrong account of the King Richard III, and served Tudor Propaganda (Thomas More wrote a false history of King Richard III to serve the Tudor dynasty). Than may show how close Henry VII and Richard III were in reality in their actions (and that by closer investigation King Henry VII was the real villain, but also a benefit for England by stabilizing the central government); and finally asking how much the whole concept of hero and anti-hero really makes sense.

Hugo was French - this would fit more into a French course. Otherwise I would also suggest Goethe's Wahlverwandtschaften or Heine's Atta Troll. Perhaps even Grimmelshausen's "Landstörzerin Courage" (Engl. title: The Life of Courage: The notorious Thief, Whore and Vagabond); on of the first female anti hero in modern literature:

Raskolnikov Romanovich - Crime and Punishment

the first, person that sprang to mind for me was Gregor Samsa of Kafka's Metamorphosis, but I'm not sure if he would really qualify. Having done an essay on frankenstein for my course, I can safely say that there's a good 2000 words worth of stuff you could do about both Frankenstein and the Creature.