I feel that Cannie from Good in Bed is an extremely likable character because she is different from how society today depicts woman in how they should look and act. When she finds out about the article that her ex-boyfriend wrote about him being once in love with a “larger woman,” she doesn’t freak out because he said that she was overweight and found it hard to love her body. Instead, she says “I could feel tears prickling behind my eyelids… how could he do this to me?” which shows that she is actually genuinely upset and hurt that Bruce would act in such a manner, not that she’s concerned with him calling her fat or ashamed of her image and beauty. Furthermore, when she confronts Bruce about the article, she isn’t yelling at him for what he said about her in the article, but just the fact he would do such a thing and ruin their relationship. This confidence and genuineness that Cannie exemplifies despite being overweight and attacked for it is what makes her, in my opinion, a very likable character because she doesn’t look, think, or act the way society says a woman should, especially in a situation like that. She is obese, not skinny. She stands up for herself and doesn’t take a back seat to men. She isn’t self-absorbed and fake, she is kind-hearted and genuine; Cannie is a different character that contradicts social norms, and that rebellious aspect makes her intriguing and likable.
However, this likability affects my assessment of the novel’s opening because Cannie is immediately targeted and disrespected for being fat in which she is genuinely hurt and upset by.Tthe positive emotional relationship that I created with Cannie and her likability made me to feel bad for her and not pleased with what I was reading. Therefore, my perception of the opening was skewed to one of dislike.