So I never expected to have this guy being considered as a candidate, however after a lot of thinking I think he deserves to be discussed, even if his page definitely needs a major update. So today we've got Charles "Trout" Walker.
What's the work?[]
Holes is the most well known novel from American author Louis Sacher and was adapted into a film of the same name in 2003 by Walt Disney Pictures, it's a preteen targeted western mystery story with comedy elements thrown in.
There's two portions to the story the present day segments which are day-to-day lives of the inmates and wardens at Camp Green Lake which provide the main bulk of the story, they're quite light hearted for the most part but get a little bit more dramatic as the story goes along.
The past segments of the story take place at Green Lake in the late 19th century to early 20th, these sections are the more darker parts of the novel and primarily revolve around Kissin' Kate Barlow and the man who made her what she is, Trout Walker the discussion for today's proposal.
Who is he?[]
Trout Walker was the son of Green Lake's owner and the richest man in his home town, at the same time however he was an undeniable narcissistic man-child, while this made him come across as more annoying than anything at first he quickly proves to be a dangerous threat after being rejected by Katherine Barlow, a school teacher who he had a crush on, after seeing her kissing an African American onion picker named Sam, Walker shows his true colours by burning down the school house and leading an angry mob across town to find Sam, this includes him killing Sam's beloved Donkey Mary-Lou before making his way out to the middle of the lake where he murders Sam in cold blood.
This causes a massive drought across Green Lake and eventually the lake dried up and Trout lost all of his wealth, making him lose his mind and grow even more obsessed with Katherine now known as Kissin' Kate Barlow who became a feared outlaw following the death of Sam. When she eventually returns home he threatens and screams at her in gunpoint, demanding to know where the treasures from her endeavours are hidden, unphased however she refuses and allows herself to die after being bitten by a yellow spotted lizard.
Following this a furious and obsessed Trout forces his wife, children and eventually grandchildren to dig holes every single day of their lives, in a vain attempt to find the treasure. His work was continued from beyond the grave thanks to his granddaughter Louise Walker who shared his obsession with the treasure.
Heinous Standard[]
Here's where things get interesting.
In terms of resources Trout started out with plenty but managed to lose them all after killing Sam, after that he had no wealth, and no credibility and just became a desperate man with a gun who owned a property that lacked any value whatsoever. In spite of that however he still managed to kill someone, burn down a schoolhouse, destroy Kate Barlow's credibility and life, and psychologically damage her so badly that she turned into a feared outlaw across the west, commit acts of animal cruelty such as killing a donkey and finally perhaps worst of all, forced his own family which included CHILDREN into slave labour literally until the day he died.
Essentially Trout is responsible for nearly everything that happens in the entire story; his killing of Sam dried up Green Lake, his mistreatment of Barlow led her down a path of villainy and his forced slave labour turned his daughter into a cold and cynical woman who only cared about obtaining Barlow's treasure in the guise of running a camp for troubled youths.
Comparing him to other villains is slightly pointless as his only real rival is Kate Barlow who had not only more resources and opportunities to commit her crimes, she also had limits to how far she would go, and hated herself for her crimes, to the point of even sparing one of the men she robbed. On top of this she is a tragic character who once again, he essentially made into an outlaw in the first place.
As for the present day, Warden Walker doesn't do anything to actually harm her inmates and is a reasonably fair boss aside from condescending and on one occasion violent to Mr. Sir, Mr. Sir himself is an anti-villain, he's grouchy and unpleasant but overall doesn't do anything to harm his inmates either and is even quite jovial with them, he's also comedic.
So overall, nobody has resources on par with Trout's who himself has little to no resources by the end of the story, in spite of that however he still manages to use what he does have to its full potential and once again is responsible for the events of nearly every event in the story's pleasant day.
Freudian Excuse?[]
Perhaps losing his wealth counts, however he brought this on himself, and aside from that none.
Moral Agency[]
A normal human man who knows full well what he's doing is wrong, he's just entitled.
Migating Factors[]
None, again just entitled, his claims to Louise that "she'll thank him one day" seem like merely an attempt to justify his obsession with the treasure and being rich again.
As another user pointed out there's also his relationship with Linda Walker however neither of them show affection for one another and in the end he subjected her to the same labour he gave to the rest of his family, suggesting he didn't care about her either.
Sympathy?[]
None, especially by this story's standards he's completely unsympathetic.
Verdirct[]
An entitled man-child who got bitter over a girl rejecting him so killed her boyfriend and emotionally destroyed her in the process who later forces his entire family to dig holes every single day so he can obtain treasure that doesn't even belong to him. He's also responsible for arguably every event in the story's present day.
Yes