Ahhh! This explains so much " I always naively assumed "The Hole" referred to an external source of threat, not the main character.

This is slightly at right angles to the point you were making (about two years ago - hurrah for random article browser!), but I've always felt that the non-sympathetic characters often correspond with how annoying characters are, and in most bad television all the characters get on my nerves. And they get on my nerves because they act in ways that we don't find reasonable as an audience. So in conclusion, be a good writer and you won't have this problem!