10 incredible daughters from literature

Some may argue about the point of celebrating Daughter's Day. They would squint their eyes, furrow their eyebrows, and say, "Everyday is daughter's day! Why celebrate it just one day?" But we must keep in mind that we live in a country where gender determination before birth is made illegal because of the huge number of female foeticide cases reported. Now, if in that scenario, there is a day solely dedicated to daughters and their beautiful, kind nature, maybe it can be instilled in people's minds that daughters are as much as incredible, important and remarkable as sons. Hence, we do need a Daughter's Day. Also, daughters are every parent's pride, their joy, and their heart and soul. A daughter is kind, which makes her beautiful; she is caring, adventurous, and free-spirited. Every parent must give their daughters the chance to spread their wings of imagination and let them soar. Daughter's Day gives them the opportunity to express gratitude to their daughters and to tell them how much they are loved because of just who they are! Celebrate this beautiful day by remembering some of the most incredible daughters from the literary world!

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Stern, proud and kind, Elizabeth was the rock of the Bennet family. Though her mother would ignore her importance sometimes, Mr Bennet loved her daughter dearly, for he knew she always meant well for the family. Unlike her sisters, Liz has an intriguing personality and always thought about her family, especially father, first before making any decision. Her kind and trusting attitude also make Mr Bennet respect her decision not to marry the first man who comes along, especially if he's the horrid Mr Collins.

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Luna Lovegood is often known as the weird, funky Harry Potter character who would muse in her own world. But many overlooked the fact how she always marched forward with her father's anti-government agenda. She would be the only one to read and to advertise her father newspaper, The Quibbler, the only daily to unabashedly write the truth, even if she was subjected to humiliation. Motherless at a very young age, Luna's relationship with her father is sweet, quirky, and characterised by a love of all things unlikely to actually exist.

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In Amy Tan's classic story, after the death of her mother, Jing-Mei played mahjong with some Chinese ladies in a weekly gathering her mother had organized in China and revived in San Francisco. The other members of the club, her mother's fellow immigrants and friends, tell Jing-Mei that just before her mother died, she had located the address of her lost daughters. After much contemplation that she cannot live her mother's stories and appropriate them properly, Jing-Mei finds herself travelling to China and helps her half-sisters to know a mother they cannot remember. A beautiful story that weaves the complex relationship of an immigrant mother with her first-world daughter, The Joy Luck Club is a classic. Though Jing-Mei first appears stubborn and unyielding, it is proved to us later that she could go to any length to respect her mother's wishes.

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Inquisitive and intellectually adventurous, Marie-Laure is visually challenged from the age of six and is extremely close with her father, Daniel LeBlanc. When she's 12, the Nazis occupy Paris and Daniel escapes with his daughter to Germany. Daniel does everything he can to make his daughter's life a satisfying one, and Marie loves her father so much that she tries everything in her will to make him smile and make his life and struggles worthwhile. Marie is a fantastic daughter to a wonderful father, and their relationship is a cherishable element in modern literature.

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With the help of her accordion-playing foster father, Liesel Meminger learns to read and shares her stolen books with her neighbours during bombing raids, as well as with a Jewish man hidden in her basement. An intensely riveting book, 'The Book Thief' is Marcus Zusak's classic tale of a young girl, who is a loving, fearless, and darling daughter to another kind, caring man.

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Strong-willed and independent, Jo March reminds people of Austen's Elizabeth Bennet. But Jo is young, adventurous, and creative too. While her father is away at war, Jo would often take charge of the March household and would even outwit Meg, her elder sister on many occasions. At a time when women's lives were restricted to home and kitchen, Jo represented the possibility of another kind of life. A loving sister and a formidable daughter, Jo March was a responsible young woman who wanted to contribute to the family and take care of her mother and sisters.

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16-year-old Starr witnessed the brutal shooting of her innocent friend Khalil by the police in Angie Thomas' debut novel. From a black, lower-middle-class family, Starr goes to a predominantly white school and has resolved to bring justice to her friend's murder. Overnight, she grows up and realises the plights her parents must face every now and then for being coloured. Starr matures to an extent that she becomes an activist voicing concerns over police brutality. Starr is a very young, proud girl of her black parents who are assured of her heritage, her community and tries her best to make everyone live with their heads held high, without the fear of unforeseen guns. She is the ideal daughter.

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Shakespeare's King Lear tells us how vanity and an unkind nature can ruin anybody's chances at happiness. The youngest of King Lear's three daughters, Cordelia is also his favourite. Not only she loves her father dearly, she is also straightforward, honest, and very modest. Lear wanted his daughters to profess their love for him in return of one-third of the land in his kingdom. Cordelia refused to take part in the base game and hence was banished by her father. But unlike her father and sisters, Cordelia knows how to differentiate love from property. nevertheless, it cannot be denied that she loved her father unconditionally.

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One of the most formidable female characters from Hindu mythology, Draupadi is also a fierce daughter who loved her family and respected her father King Drupad dearly. A loving sister to Drishtadyumna, Draupadi did everything in her means to safeguard her father's kingdom and honour. Though Draupadi was solely created out of the fire to vanquish King Drupad's enemies, she was a strong-willed woman who would think for herself and took decisions that were most logical. Married to 5 princes, Draupadi is a powerful character in the Hindu epic, who, apart from being a good daughter and a practical woman, she was loyal, intelligent and a worthy jewel in her father's crown.

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Scout Finch is not a stereotypical dependent daughter in Harper Lee's classic novel, and neither does her father Atticus Finch fit the protective, strong father prototype, who teaches his daughter moral codes and virtues. Instead, Scout is keener on learning about the nitty gritty of life and humans, their behaviour and about how to deal with life in one's own, unique manner. Her prompt nature and straightforward inquisitiveness intrigue Atticus and he discusses mature topics with Scout in the most matter-of-fact manner. This has, in fact, made Scout a sensible human being who is growing up to think for herself.

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