Incompetent R Them

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Don Quixote leads the way in this image and the blog post below.

I started sorting through my family’s 2025 tax paperwork yesterday, which reminded me that a tax-preparation company we used for the first time last year was rather incompetent. (Needless to say, we’ll be trying a different company this month.) I was also reminded of characters in novels who are incompetent or bumbling — with some of them sympathetic and some of them less so.

Before I continue with today’s theme, I wanted to mention that a far-from-inept podcaster/blogger — the mega-talented Rebecca Budd, who many of you know via WordPress — interviewed me about how reading books can be helpful and comforting in these very difficult times. Thank you, Rebecca, for the great questions and wonderful conversation! Which can be listened to here:

S8 E2: Dave Astor on Books Keep Us Centered

Anyway, the first inept character who came to mind was the clueless and deluded but kind of charming Don Quixote in Miguel de Cervantes’ early-1600s classic. Quixote IS quite skilled at attacking windmills he mistakes for enemies. 🙂

Not as sympathetic is the buffoonish Professor Gilderoy Lockhart in J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. Also inept, at the start of the seven-book Potter series, is Hogwarts student Neville Longbottom, but his character arc eventually has him become more self-assured and even heroic.

An inept/adept mix can also be simultaneous — as with the bounty hunter Stephanie Plum who is both bumbling and skilled in Janet Evanovich’s series of novels.

Then there’s Ignatius J. Reilly, who could be categorized as a fool in John Kennedy Toole’s A Confederacy of Dunces. But he has some smarts, too, and is funny as hell.

The combination of ineptness and proficiency manifests itself in a different way in Daniel Keyes’ Flowers for Algernon, in which Charlie Gordon goes from being a low-IQ to high-IQ individual via an experimental surgical procedure.

A poignant character with almost no life skills is “The Poor Fool,” a child of Wang Lung and O-Lan in Pearl S. Buck’s The Good Earth. The girl, who isn’t named in the novel, has a mental handicap probably caused by being a baby the year her family was starving. Yes, some characters sadly have no control over how they turn out.

Back in 2019, I wrote a post about bad bosses in novels, and some of them were pretty incompetent — including Captain Queeg in Herman Wouk’s The Caine Mutiny.

Most of us know some incompetent people in real life, so that type is certainly familiar when encountered in literature. Even welcome in a way, because we’re relieved that these people are fictional rather than real. 🙂

Thoughts about, and examples of, today’s topic?

Misty the cat says: “That car either disappeared into the garage or into the space-time continuum.”

My comedic 2024 book — the part-factual/part-fictional/not-a-children’s-work Misty the Cat…Unleashed — is described and can be purchased on Amazon in paperback or on Kindle. It’s feline-narrated! (And Amazon reviews are welcome. 🙂 )

This 90-second promo video for the book features a talking cat: 🙂

I’m also the author of a literary-trivia book…

…and a memoir that focuses on cartooning and more, including many encounters with celebrities.

In addition to this weekly blog, I write the 2003-started/award-winning “Montclairvoyant” topical-humor column every Thursday for Montclair Local. The latest piece — about Black History Month and a closed fire station — is here.

135 thoughts on “Incompetent R Them”

  1. Dave, this is such a fun topic. I love the distinction you make between incompetent characters we root for versus the ones who are just….insufferable. Also, congrats on the podcast with Rebecca. Looking forward to listening to that one. And yeah, hoping your new tax preparer is way more competent than the last. Nobody needs that kind of stress in February lol.

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    • Thank you, Ritish! Yes, it’s very interesting to compare likable incompetent characters with “insufferable” ones. (Love your use of the word “insufferable.” 🙂 ) And I agree that doing taxes is stressful enough without incompetence in the mix!

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  3. Hi Dave, now you are making me think. The first incompetent character who comes to mind is David Gamut, the singing music teacher from The Last of the Mohicans. I also thought Pierre Bezukhov from War and Peace was a bumbling fool a lot of the time. An interesting topic, Dave.

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    • Thank you, Robbie! Two excellent examples! “The Last of the Mohicans” is very compelling, as are the other four books in James Fenimore Cooper’s “Leatherstocking” series. My favorite, which I might have mentioned before, is “The Deerslayer,” depicting Natty Bumppo as a very young man. (Not fond of that book’s title, though.)

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  4. Happy tax season. Hopefully it goes better this year! I’m actually reading a book right now with a main character that, while I wouldn’t call her bumbling, she does make a lot of questionable decisions and it makes me have a hard time connecting with her. The book is By Any Other Name (Jodi Picoult) and the modern-day main character is just making some bad decisions! Hoping her arch gets an upswing at some point!

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  5. In Italian literature, a well-known clumsy character is Don Abbondio (in Alessandro Manzoni’s The Betrothed – once required reading in our schools).

    Besides being a negative character due to his cowardice, the priest is comical, perpetually scared and inept in the role he plays.

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  6. Here’s one… a lovely book: ‘The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole, Aged 13 ¾’ (and several more books later too). Adrian Mole is a classic example of adolescent awkwardness, chronicling teenage mishaps with humour and relatability. Great fun!

    Meanwhile, we still love the wonderful Inspector Clouseau, and I have seen him rather recently… so let’s move quickly on.

    I really enjoyed the podcast from Rebecca and you Dave last week. Only a little niggle since I had tried to post back to Rebecca but nothing came out. Probably in spam (naughty).

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    • Thank you, Chris! Adrian Mole sounds like a memorable character! Just looked the series up on Wikipedia, and it seems to have done very well. 🙂 The teens are definitely awkward years for most. Comments going into spam? Awkward, too. 😦

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  7. Hi Dave!

    An interesting and rare, subject matter this week! None of the novels you have mentioned, I have personally read!

    However, I can think of a senior politician from your country who many would class as highly incompetent!!

    BUT, your fascinating post is about literature, far more positive!!

    Further to your delightful interview with the lovely Rebecca Budd; we read to feel enriched, connected and for a sense of escape. Those are my reasons, anyway!

    Thanks Dave. I hope your tax returns etc, go well.

    With best wishes,

    Sharon 📚

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    • Thank you, Sharon! I greatly enjoyed your comment. Yes, Trump — like most of the appointees in his evil regime — is hugely incompetent, and I thought of making a reference to him in the post but decided to stay away from that this week. 🙂 I wish Trump had similar self-control. 😂

      Glad you enjoyed the podcast! Rebecca is indeed wonderful.

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      • Hi Dave! Again, we have similar thoughts!!! I was reluctant to mention that President AGAIN, but I had to!! 😂 Please accept my apologies!! Good point about Trump’s lack of self-control. On a serious note, I cannot wait for his term to finish!!! Terrible!!

        Thank you so much, Dave, it’s always a pleasure discussing literature with you.

        Have a good week! ☺

        I really enjoyed the podcast with Rebecca, I will be listening to the rest.

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        • Actually, Sharon, I’m glad you referred to Trump. 🙂 And I also can’t wait until his term is over. Maybe he could resign yesterday? 🙂

          It’s always a pleasure to discuss literature with you, too, and wishing you a good week as well!

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                • I have mixed feelings about Kamala Harris, Sharon; she’s too corporate, cautious, and centrist for my tastes. But she would have made an infinitely better president than Trump! I’m hoping for someone like U.S. congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez or U.S. congressman Ro Khanna to run in 2028. 🙂

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                  • Thank you for your honest comments and insights – they are always appreciated. I think, Dave we had this discussion before about centrist politicians. I have the same complaint about our current Prime Minister, Keir Starmer and other Labour leaders, who are more centre, than left-wing in their views and politics! Not desirable!

                    Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Congressman Ro Khanna are new to me! I shall be looking them up.

                    America deserves a better president.

                    Thanks again Dave!

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                    • I appreciate the response, Sharon! In partial defense of Kamala Harris, politicians in the U.S. who are women or people of color or both have a lot of pressure on them to be cautious even as white male politicians (such as Trump) are more allowed to say or do anything. An awful/sexist/racist double standard. And I hear you about the UK’s Labor Party not being as progressive as they could be…sort of like the U.S.’s Democratic Party. Corporate capture is definitely a big reason — listening to rich donors more than voters in general. 😦

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                    • I agree with you there, Dave! Politicians of colour are bound to have a harder time! May that all change soon! 🙏

                      It always seems to me that regardless of race or creed or politics, it’s a divide between the rich and the poor. And that’s everywhere in the world!!

                      Oh dear!!!

                      With kindest regards,

                      Sharon

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                    • That’s a very astute point, Sharon — the divide between the haves and the have-nots might be the most important and most depressing divide of all. It has such a huge impact on people who are not rich.

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                    • Exactly! It’s very depressing! And I’m not sure about your country Dave, but over here the dichotomy between the haves and the have-nots is getting wider!! Bad news!

                      Political parties!! Who knows?!! What I do know is the wealthier you are, then the more of a voice you have. Huge sigh!!!!

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                    • Yes, the wealth gap is getting wider here, too. 😦 Sorry to hear about that in the UK. 😦

                      “…the wealthier you are, then the more of a voice you have” — so sadly, unfortunately true. 😦 Money does “buy” politicians, among other things.

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  8. Hello, Dave. I immediately thought of Bertie Wooster, but then I read through the other comments, and I see he’s already there. Part of PJ Wodehouse’s genius is to make him so appealing, even though he’s such a bungler. Generally speaking, I think you can even divide incompetent people in books into different categories: incompetent people who are either insane (like Don Quixote) or have an intellectual disability (like Lennie in Of Mice and Men), who are likable in spite of messing up their own and other people’s lives, like Bertie Wooster, and who are not at all likeable, because they don’t even try to do things well and are irresponsible or lazy.

    I was thinking about the hero of Nick Hornby’s ABOUT A BOY, Will Freeman, who is an immature and fairly unbearable man at the beginning of the book–deliberately incompetent, especially about women’s feelings, because he can’t be bothered to be thoughtful. By the end of the book, he has become a relatively good person. Which is one of the reasons I think of it as a very good book.

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    • Thank you, Kim! Bertie Wooster is a great (re)mention! A pleasant fellow in his way, as you note, but fortunate for him that he wasn’t Jeeves-less. 🙂

      Yes, people/characters can be incompetent in various ways and for various reasons.

      And, re “About a Boy,” it’s wonderful when there’s a character arc like that. 🙂 Well described by you!

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    • Thank you, Ada! Glad you enjoyed the podcast!

      Yes, tax work is not among “a few of our favorite things.” 🙂

      I agree that “a character’s flaws and foibles” can make for interesting reason; a totally good/competent protagonist might be on the boring side. 🙂

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  11. It was such a pleasure meeting up with you, Dave. Many thanks for being a guest on Tea, Toast & Trivia. I always come away from our conversations feeling steadied and enlivened at the same time. Your ideas have a wonderful way of opening paths rather than closing them. This post does that too, by reminding us how often literature uses well-meaning but bumbling characters to tell the truth about human systems.

    One character who immediately came to mind for me was Mr. Collins in Pride and Prejudice. On the surface he’s simply ridiculous, but Jane Austen gives him real narrative weight. He embodies the inheritance laws that threaten the Bennet sisters, and his proposal to Elizabeth exposes marriage as economic necessity rather than moral or emotional choice. His foolishness isn’t harmless. It props up an unjust system through obedience, certainty, and misplaced authority, which makes Elizabeth’s refusal all the more courageous.

    I love how books use these kinds of characters not just for humour, but to help us see more clearly about competence, power, and the quiet ways people either challenge or sustain the world as it is. It’s one of the reasons reading keeps us centered. Reading lets us reflect on human nature with both compassion and insight. And I have to add this quote by Mr. Collins: “My reasons for marrying are, first, that I think it a right thing for every clergyman in easy circumstances to set the example of matrimony in his parish…”

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  12. great title and bst wishes in finding the right tax preparer. Incompetent workers is a per pevve for me – and at first, my mind just went to “bad” bosses, but incompetent is a special category and Mr. Bumble in Oliver Twist camr to mind – then – stickin’ with Dickens – found one of my favorite examples of incompetence from lit –
    ready?
    The self-serving Barnacle family and oh my gosh, I can still feel the annoyance from the Circumlocution office red tape and Dickens did a great job using it to show incompetence and inertia of Victorian bureaucracy

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  15. Sorry you’re experiencing taxing times, Dave, but it hasn’t stopped you giving a wonderful interview to Rebecca or coming up with yet another thought-provoking post today. As is often the case with me, I’ll have to give the question of incompetent characters some thought; but for starters I’d like to offer the eponymous Silas Marner, from the pen of George Eliot. He’s rather a loner, not great with people, when he first arrives in the rural community of Raveloe, but it’s when he takes in the orphaned baby Eppie that he begins to unfreeze and bond with his new neighbours. I always loved his inept efforts to raise the little girl, especially his reluctance to punish her, his agony when he puts her in the coal hole for a few seconds – and the wonderful humour when she later puts herself there. It’s a wonderful story of a person alienated from the human race being reassimilated, rehabilitated by the love for a child. As to any other such characters – I’ll let you know. Have a good week and best of luck with those taxes. 🙂

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    • Thank you, Laura! Taxes are a yearly ordeal for all of us. We used to have a great accountant, but he retired. Then his designated successor would ask for info to be submitted by the end of February but wouldn’t do the taxes until on or near the April 15 deadline (after we begged). Then we tried a company in which the preparer was very nice but obviously new and rather clueless. Taxing times indeed. 😦

      Great mention/description of Silas Marner! Definitely an awkward loner type who eventually blossoms with parenthood, though he still remains somewhat awkward. I really liked that George Eliot novel.

      Have a good week, too!

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  16. Definitely recommend Peter Sellers as the bumbling Inspector Clousseau in the Pink Pather films.He was a very good actor,comedy is pain, Being There a completely different film, poignant.

    Reading “The Overstory ” by Richard Powers,unlike any book I have ever read.Its an experience that is difficult to describe.

    Could be a blog topic for others to share,so much strata ,layers, like a tree trunk. Its exquisite. Discussion could be a course in college, continuing ed. What an escape on a very cold yet sunny Winter’s day.

    Michele

    E@P way back

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    • Thank you, Michele! Peter Sellers definitely displayed some acting range!

      I agree that “The Overstory” is an incredible novel. The way Richard Powers writes is unlike almost any other author I’ve read. “…strata, layers, like a tree trunk” — well said! I mentioned “The Overstory” in several blog posts several years ago, but I don’t think I did a deep dive into it.

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  17. I will be heading to Rebecca’s after this!

    Okay… she is not stupid, she’s smart and creative, but Anne of Green Gables can be gullible. She buys dye to turn her hair black, but it turns green.

    She also gets her friend Diana drunk on what she thinks is raspberry cordial, but is in fact currant wine.

    Bukowski is quite the bumbler in Post Office and Hollywood. Although they are semi-autobiographical.

    Yes…taxes are taxing!

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    • Thank you, Resa! You’re right that Anne Shirley, when young in the first novel she starred in, has a gullible streak. You gave two great examples of that that L.M. Montgomery wrote to hilarious effect. I appreciate the Bukowski examples, too; “Hollywood” is an excellent satirical novel. (I haven’t read “Post Office.”)

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  19. Interesting, Dave. As in real life, inept characters play important roles in the protagonist’s journey. In the cases where they are the main character, as in the cases you mention, readers have the opportunity to watch them grow and succeed. I don’t recall similar characters from other noteworthy novels, but the inept French police detective, Inspector Jacques Clouseau, from The Pink Panther movie series came to mind.

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  20. Good evening Dave,it was a pleasure for me to listen to your very interesting conversation with Rebecca, concerning reading and also reading aloud together with other people, which I really enjoy, because, like you, it helps me to better understand the content!
    Unfortunately I don’t know any uncompetent people, but I do know 2 very efficient blogger! Thank you for all your energy you are investing for your comunity:)

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  21. A great topic. I have certainly met some incompetent people in real life. I’ve hired some, worked with/for some, maybe even married one at some point. They are part of life and have loveable qualities as well. Shakespeare almost always included one or two in his plays, even the serious plays. Dogberry in Much Ado About Nothing, Bottom in Midsummer’s Night’s Dream, Touchstone in As You Like It and the gravediggers in Hamlet come to mind.

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    • Thank you, Darlene! Yes, incompetent people can be part of our personal lives or work lives, and some are lovable and others much less so. Sorry you’ve had to experience them. When I think of some of the supervisors I worked under during my full-time-job years, I’m…glad to be freelancing. 🙂 And great Shakespeare mentions. His plays (I must confess to reading or seeing only about a half-dozen of them) seem to contain almost every personality type imaginable.

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