Key Themes of Heroes by Robert Cormier

Key Themes of Heroes by Robert Cormier

1. Heroism

   • Heroes are portrayed as role models worthy of admiration
     • Cheers and applause fill the cinema when Larry LaSalle features on the Movietone News after his award of a Silver Star
   • Heroes are portrayed as victims
     • Mrs Belander's face "softened" and she calls Francis "poor boy" when she meets him because of his injuries
   • In the St Jude Club heroes are treated with the utmost respect
     • When talking about Larry LaSalle, the bartender's voice becomes "formal and dignified".
     • The bartender has a scrap book of the war heroes's exploits but he can see the reality of heroism in front of him

2. Heroes or Anti-Heroes

   • Larry LaSalle is an anti-hero, someone who acts on the side of good but has destructive flaws
     • Should a person like that be regarded as a hero?
     • On the same night he was admired by the whole town he ruins the live of both Francis and Nicole
   • THE ILLUSION IF HEROISM - Other people admire heroes but the heroes do not seem to admire themselves
   • Francis doesn't see himself as a hero due to his motive for joining the army
     • In the conversation with Larry LaSalle he admits that he was "a fake all along"

3. Confronting Evil

   • Francis believes his cowardice resulted in the suffering of the person he loves most
     • An act of evil took place because he stood by and did nothing
   • For Francis, the greatest evil occurred where he least expected it
     • Larry reveals that ha has always been attracted to "sweet young things", an attraction which Larry himself considers evil

4. Guilt

   • Guilt consumes Francis
     • The "duffel bag which is always with [him], slung over [his] shoulder" represents his burden of guilt
   • Francis feels guilt for intending to murder Larry LaSalle and commit suicide
     • "I think of the gun inside the duffel bag at my feet."
   • Francis is guilty that he only jumped on the bomb hopping that he would die, not as an act of bravery
     • "I went to war because I wanted to die."

5. Forgiveness

   • Forgiveness is emphasised when the readers see Francis praying for a man who has done harm to him
     • "It's hard for me to pray for him and I always hesitate before I can bring myself to say that prayer."
   • The religious element of forgiveness is also emphasised when Francis hides in the confessional at St Jude's Church
     • "I went to church after supper and slipped into Father Balthazar's confessional."
   • Nicole's first words to Francis are those of forgiveness, apoligising for what she had said to him. Although she cannot forget what had happened, therefore she and Francis cannot be friends
     • "'I'm sorry about one thing,' she says. 'What I did to you that day.'"

6. Loneliness

   • Many of the characters appear to live alone, separated from their past.
     • They often struggle to communicate their real feelings and withdraw into themselves.
     • Nicole is in a convent far away from her Frenchtown friends
       • "'You've come a long way', she says. 'So have you.'"
     • Larry is surrounded by crowds of people in the beginning and in the end he is a sad and lonely figure in his lodgings
       • "He is pale, eyes sunk into his sockets"
     • Francis chooses loneliness, hiding his face from people he knows
       • "not only to hide the ugliness of what used to be my face, but to hide my identity"

7. Appearance and Reality

   • There is a difference between how characters appear and the reality which lies beneath
     • Sister Mathilde says to Francis "We all have secrets"
   • Arthur Rivier
     • Hides his depression after the war
   • Enrico Rucelli
     • Hides his despair behind a mask of humorous remarks
   • Francis
     • Goes to great lengths to hide his identity
   • Nicole
     • Hides the attack from her family to spare them the pain
   • Larry LaSalle
     • There had been rumours about him since his first appearance