Bring Down the Bullies

Just for today, forget the heroes. Let's focus on villains. Some of literature's most memorable characters have vile habits, bad breath, and very nasty dispositions. Plus, if you read today's newspapers, larger than life bullies from Scranton to Cairo may finally be getting cut down to size.

The truth is that readers of all ages love to hate a well-crafted creep. Plot and setting take a back seat when juicy villains take the page. Consider the hold Cruella De Vil has exercised over millions of young minds -- or the many stagings of Othello still revealing shades of Iago's dark soul. Powerful memoirs have also been built around the struggle between innocent victims and true-life bullies who tried to bring them down. In his book "This Boy's Life", Tobias Wolff created the chilling portrait of a step-father whose extreme cruelty drove him from his home. By the time Wolff escaped to boarding school, he had found the strength to write a new script for his life. Today his work still sizzles with the energy he must have needed to escape that first monster.

If you are a writer who's managed to avoid contact sports with bullies, try paging through today's newspaper and you'll find many scowling back at you. There's Hosni Mubarak, with 30 years of political prisoners praying for his resignation. And one of America's most corrupt judges, who is about to stand trial in Scranton, PA. Mark A. Ciavarella Jr. spent years casually sentencing kids to long prison stays in exchange for huge cash kickbacks. Read the details of his schemes and see if it doesn't raise your temperature. Then try to bury your own favorite creep with a few strokes of your pen.