Interesting
Human Characters
By Rafiq Ebrahim
Glen Ellyn, IL
As you walk along a street
in the bazaar of humanity, you will find many
interesting characters. They differ not only in
shape, size or colour, but also in temperament,
attitude and mental make-up. These characters
play their own roles in the great drama of life.
No sooner a baby is born, it faces trials and
struggles. As it begins to grow, it is constantly
up against varying conditions and people, to which
it has to adapt for sheer survival. It is these
conditions and the circle of people, which mould
a child and make him or her what he or she becomes
in adult life.
Somewhere in the bazaar, you will encounter a
representative of the group called The Con Artist
or the confidence trickster. This guy exudes confidence.
A few minutes’ conversation with such a
guy would make you believe that you could fully
trust him and that he (“he” represents
both the masculine and the feminine gender in
this article) is the friend you have been looking
for all your life. This fellow will carefully
cultivate your friendship; invest his time and
money on you - his prospective client. Then finding
– or rather creating – an opportune
moment will lay down before you a lucrative proposal
which you feel will reap rich rewards for you
in the near future. You readily fall for this
smooth, genuine-looking friend and his proposal.
Having achieved his target, he will take his leave
from you in a very friendly manner, without your
realizing that you will never see hi m again.
You go further down the street to meet another
fellow, belonging to The Fraud group. This guy
has many dishonest traits in his character, but
he specializes in frauds. He is generally an intelligent
guy and would work at any place with due diligence.
Then one fine morning you will discover the fraud
committed by him. Very often your discovery will
be a bit late. The damage is already done and
it would be difficult for you to trace him, for
being an intelligent person he would by now have
made good his escape in search for green pastures
elsewhere.
Spread along the street will be many people who
belong to The Dishonest group. It is not very
difficult to recognize him for what he is, for
he often reveals his trait in whatever he says
or does. Since the bazaar is full of such people,
you may tolerate him. Human nature, as it is,
would make you forgive his small deeds. It is
only when he commits a big act of dishonesty that
you would catch hold of him – if he is still
available.
As you walk along you will now meet a character,
which is sugarcoated, belonging to the group called
The Hypocrite. He is a smooth operator, talks
in soft tones and makes you believe that he lives
mainly to help others like you. The guy would
speak contrary to the real feelings in his heart.
The love shown is in reality hatred. Gaining your
confidence and achieving the objective, the coat
of sugar would start to melt and the person would
come out in his original colours.
Then you will meet The Opportunist. Here is a
person whose only desire in life is self-gain.
He is always on the lookout for situations in
which he would find an opportunity to benefit
himself, no matter if the gain he seeks could
cause heavy loss to some other person. Such a
person often flourishes in other people’s
crisis. When you are stuck in a difficulty, he
would step in and immediately start making plans
on how to capitalize on the situation and turn
it to his advantage without a care whether your
problem would be solved or not.
Around the corner you will then see people belonging
to the group, Accomplished Liar. Almost everyone
lies at one time or the other to get something,
come out of a difficult situation, help someone
or simply to amuse others, but the accomplished
liar will lie in a very careful manner, having
a preplanned objective. He would lie with such
conviction that one would feel inclined to believe
that he is speaking the truth. He would look straight
in your eyes with perfect facial control and speak
in a voice with simulated sincerity. Often he
gets away, but sometimes, being only human, he
contradicts his own previous statements, betraying
his real self.
In the course of your travel, you will now meet
The Snob. He would always look down upon you.
He creates an aura of superiority about him. He
may be a material snob if he is affluent and moves
in high society. He values his possessions more
than other people. He may be an intellectual snob
if he is well read and possess valuable books
and literature. A snob’s main desire is
to show you that he is above you in status.
You move on further in the bazaar to find The
Aggressive, who is forceful in behaviour, words
or actions. He would talk in high tones, inclined
to be rude at times and sees to it that he is
heard. He makes it a point to walk with forceful
thuds on the ground as if he owns the earth. He
is sure to subject you to bone-crushing handshakes.
In short, he is loud in every respect.
A few steps away you will find The Meek and The
Mild. He is the opposite to his fellow being of
the Aggressive group. He would talk so softly
that he could hardly be heard. He walks lightly,
at times stealthily, and would simply submit his
hand to you if a handshake is desired. He will
quiver in every muscle. His shaking hands are
very discernible. It is all because of a deep-rooted
feeling of fear he carries in his heart or because
of an inferiority complex.
Having taken a little rest, maybe for a cup of
tea or a quick cigarette, you proceed on to find
The Know-All. He poses to know everything on every
subject under the sun. He is liberal in solemnly
giving advice to everyone in all matters. Sometimes
such a person is genuine, but generally he is
a fake or has a misguided opinion about himself.
On a by-lane you will meet The Adventurer. As
the name suggests, such a person will always undertake
risky and dangerous ventures in life. He is not
afraid of the consequences, and since he has an
optimistic outlook, he often succeeds to make
a name for himself. He may be a soldier of fortune,
seeking wealth, fame or a good position in life.
A little further away, you come in contact with
The Defeatist. He has accepted the prospects of
defeat in everything he does, right from the start.
He believes that he would not succeed. His mind
is warped with negative thoughts and pictures
and he lives in a world of failures, never achieving
anything worthwhile. Had it not been for the fact
that God is very kind and cares for all creatures,
a defeatist would never survive for long.
On the next street in this bazaar, you meet The
Winner. His character is in complete contrast
to that of the defeatist. He never settles for
anything less than a win. He has rosy pictures
and thoughts in his mind, which makes him a winner.
Positive attitude is a way of life for him. Faith
and confidence are writ on his face. When he undertakes
any job, optimism guides him to his goal. Negative
aspects never bother him.
On a broken path you will come across The Martyr.
People in this group get an inner satisfaction
in their sufferings. They are likely to do things
for others at the expense of their own comfort,
suffering silently. Such people have a martyr
spirit, which they cherish. This trait is the
extreme of goodness, and becomes a negative attitude,
gradually corroding the individual.
Some distance away, you will meet The Catalyst.
The scientific meaning of the word catalyst is
a substance, which accelerates a chemical reaction
without taking part in it. He is the one, who
only with a gesture or a word pacifies a quarrel
or an argument between two persons without getting
actively involved.
Then you will see The Sentimentalist. Highly-strung,
truly caring for the finer feelings of others
and him, a sentimentalist is a suffering soul
in today’s world. He would not go for the
material comforts, but would love to read an inspiring
book, appreciate a good painting and shower love
on others. As is obvious, he is headed for heartbreak
sooner or later.
In the opposite camp is The Materialist. He loves
all the material comforts in life. His main aim
is to satisfy his physical needs by hoarding all
the wealth and possessions he possibly can. He
cares very little for the finer feelings in life
and is convinced that a sentimentalist is a stupid
fool.
Downhill on the road is The Parasite. He is totally
dependant on others for his existence. He would
cling to his helpers like a leech, never able
or wishing to stand on his own feet.
Turning a corner you will meet The Bore. He is
a passive conversationalist and speaks tediously
without any lively gesture or expression on his
face. He tends to remain sober and grave, but
when he has some problem of his own, he will speak
endlessly about it. He has little interest in
other people’s plight. A bore sometimes
is a lively one. If so, he will repeat the same
thing again and again and make you yawn.
You ascend a hillock to be with The Dreamer. He
lives in a world of his own. If he is with you
only his physical presence will be noticed, for
mentally he is far away, thinking and living in
his dreams. Sometimes he will imagine himself
to be a hero, sometimes a Casanova, and at other
times a trouble-shooter helping others in distress.
He often dreams of achieving great things in life.
It is a fact that all achievements in life are
the result of somebody’s dream, but such
a dream should be supported by action, which an
idle dreamer lacks.
Now you see some light in a corner, an illumination
that draws you there like a magnet. You see a
very small group of The Beautiful. A person belonging
to this group may or may not be physically beautiful,
but always has an inner beauty and grace. He is
an oasis in the desert of life. No matter how
grief-laden his heart is, he will demonstrate
that he is happy. He will laugh and make others
laugh. He will spread light and sweetness wherever
he goes. Such a person has really understood that
life is short and should be lived fully every
moment. He is born to ease tensions of others.
He would readily go a long way to help you if
you need any help. In matters of national or international
crises, he would be among the foremost to contribute
his bit. In the bazaar of humanity he reigns supreme.
If you are introduced to such a person, don’t
ever let him slip away from you. Friendship or
even acquaintance with such a guy would be your
good fortune.
Readers, if there is any other class of human
beings that you know of and that has not come
to my mind, please let me know: rafiq.ebrahim@gmail.com
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