Heroes By Aishah Rao

Characters & Main Quotes
1. Francis Cassavant
  1. ' I wanted to shout from the rooftops: "I love her with all my heart"'
  2. " The next day, the grenade blows my face away"
  3. "I had never been a hero in such places, too short and uncoordinated"
  4. "We knew little about him,however, and he discouraged questions"
  5. "They respect my silence and my anonymity"
  6. "For the first time in my life, a tide of confidence swept through me"
  7. "I stood spellbound by his words'"
  8. "he caught her, pressing her close, their faces almost touching, their lips only an inch or so from a kiss"
  9. "the people of Monument jammed the Plymouth to see the town's first big war hero on the silver screen"
  10. "Why didn't anyone warn me"
  11. " I start to close doors. Not real doors but doors to the future"
  12. "His slenderness was knife-like now, lethal"
  13. "I couldn't breathe, my body rigid, my lungs burning"
  14. "And I know where to find him"
  15. "I still want to die"
  16. "He [Larry] seems fragile now, as if caught in an old photograph that has faded and yellowed with age"
  17. "I knew all the time we were talking that we were filling up the empty spaces between us with words
  18. "I lost her a long time ago"
  19. "Sometimes I think he talked so much to cover up the pain"
  20. "the loneliness of the tenement drove me to the Wreck Centre"
  21. "But tomorrow was 7 December 1941"
  22. "I am filled with guilt and shame, knowing that I just prayed for the man I am going to kill"
  23. (when thinking about Enrico): " even when he laughed, you could see the pain flashing in his eyes"
  24. " The visit to Nicole's house on sixth street brought back only loneliness and regret
  25. The horror of the final words of the opening sentence, "the war is over and I have no face" seems shocking because of the use of the first-person pronoun
2. Nicole Renard
  1. "Go away, Francis," she said "just go away"
  2. "I shouldn't have said those things to you that day on the piazza. You weren't to blame for what happened"
3. Larry LaSalle
  1. "We can't let the Japs get away with this"
  2. "One gun is enough for what has to be done"
  3. Larry Lasalle was everywhere.
4. The Strangler (the bartender)
  1. "To Larry LaSalle, the best of the best"
5. Armand
  1. "Poor Arthur"
6. "He saved the lives of an entire platoon… Captured an enemy machine gun nest"
7. Sister Mathilde
  1. "We all have secrets,eh, Francis?"
  2. "I hear you served your country well. You have made us all proud"
8. Arthur
  1. "No heroes in that scrap-book, Francis. Only us, the boys of Frenchtown"
9. Mrs Belander
  1. "Poor boy"
10. Joey
  1. "Better watch out, Mister LaSalle. Francis has got your number
11. Dr Abrams
  1. "Great strides have been made in cosmetic surgery… Look me up when you've a mind to".
12. Mr Laurier
  1. "A kid graduates from high school,gets six weeks of basic training with guns and grendades… and five months later… he's fighting the Japs or the Germans"
Themes
1. Heroism
  1. F: "I was impatient to reach the age when I could join them in that great crusade for freedom".
  2. F: "I could picture him [Larry LaSalle] storming a hillside in Guadalcanal, rifle in hand, bayonet fixed, grenades dangling from his belt, pumping bullets into the enemy".
  3. War heroes are portrayed as role models worthy of admiration.
  4. The people of Frenchtown are excited by examples of heroism because because they do not have to face the consequences of war directly.
  5. Heroes represent bravery and patriotism.
  6. Larry LaSalle is a stereotypical hero (who has stepped down from the cinema screen,resplendent in his lieutenant's uniform with ribbons and medals on his chest).
  7. Francis and Larry are both awarded the Silver Star the most obvious representations of heroism.
  8. Cormier uses Arthur Rivier as the representative of ordinary heroes in Chp8 , perhaps Cormier wants us, the reader, to remember the most.
  9. We must not forget that the Young Germans Francis shot were also heroes to someone too.
2. Guilt
  1. Francis is consumed by guilt throughout the novel.
  2. He feels guilt when he intends to kill Larry Lasalle
  3. His failure to save Nicole is a greater source of guilt and burden.
  4. Francis's guilt is compounded by the guilt he feels at being acclaimed as a hero
  5. Unlike Francis, Larry does not appear to be troubled by a guilty conscience i.e. he explains that in his view that one sin should not be allowed to wipe away all the good things a person has done.
  6. (Larry) He regards his desire for young girls as merely a law in his nature. He regrets that Francis and Nicole don't see him as a hero.
3. Confronting Evil
  1. L: "We love the thing that makes us evil"
  2. A thing that motivates the characters to go to war is to confront evil.
  3. There is the external evil that the inhabitants of Frenchtown can all see in their wartime enemy, but there is also evil within their town which they cannot see until it is too late.
  4. Francis struggles against evil throughout the novel.
  5. L: "sweet young things"
  6. Francis challenges Larry for the evil he has done. ( This could be seen as an act of heroism)
  7. The couple at the begging of the story, who got killed at the "wreck centre"
    1. Bad events occur their, hence the word "wreck"
4. Forgiveness
  1. The theme of forgiveness is introduced in Chp1. The religious element of forgiveness is emphasised here and again in Chp12
  2. Larry does not seem effected by guilt and finds it easy to forgive himself, in contrast to Francis who is the complete opposite.
  3. Nicole is the character in the novel who personifies goodness.
  4. Her first words to Francis are one of forgiveness. But it isn't clear whether her word relieve Francis from his burden of guilt.
  5. Although Nicole forgives Francis it is clear that Nicole cannot forget and that they can't be friends. Most likely because he is linked to everything bad that has happened to her in Frenchtown.
5. Loneliness
  1. Many characters in the novel appear to live alone, separated from their past.
  2. Nicole is alone at the end of the novel (note that when they meet all they hear is a ping-pong ball) away from her friends she had made in Frenchtown. she tries to cut herself off from her past.
  3. Larry is seen as sad and lonely at the end
  4. Francis chooses loneliness, refusing to reveal himself to people he knows.
  5. Arthur Rivier wanders the streets at night, drunk and alone.
  6. The loneliness of characters is often linked to the secrets they carry within them. It is their secret or hidden identity which sets them apart from others.
  7. Even when Francis is in a crowded place he is still alone, not taking part in the action but merely observing. This also can reflect on his childhood experiences as a lonely child raised by his uncle.
6. Masks
  1. Francis wears a scarf around his face to cover his identity.
  2. Francis and Larry at the beginning are incognito characters.
  3. The children at the Wreck Centre find an article on Larry.
  4. Francis remains hidden behind his scarf, a visible sign of his separation from his past. He embraces loneliness because he is ashamed of his identity.
7. Appearance and reality
  1. When Sister Mathilde says to Francis "We all have secrets" she is talking about everyone in the novel.
  2. Arthur Rivier hides his depression after the war.
  3. Enrico Rucelli hides his despair behind a mask of humorous remarks.
  4. Francis goes to great lengths to hide his identity on his return to Frenchtown.
  5. The theme of hidden identity is exemplified in the character of Larry LaSalle, about whom there have been rumours since his first appearance in Frenchtown.
  6. Nicole hides the attack from her family in order to spare them pain.
  7. Cormier presents war to the people of Frenchtown in a artificial light in the cinema, but the survivors bring back with them the reality of their wartime experiences.
  8. Cormier once said " I really believe that most people hide who they really are and I think we all have hidden lives"
  9. "Nothing glamorous like the write-ups in the papers or the newsreels.We weren't heroes. We were only there"
Historical & Social Context
1. Historical
  1. Attack on Pearl Harbour.
  2. War was declared in America 1941.
  3. The atomic bombs were dropped in Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
2. Social
  1. Cormier wanted to celebrate the heroism of "the ordinary people who do their duty quietly, without a fanfare, whether it's fighting a war or going to work every day".

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Heroes By Aishah Rao

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	Created by Aishah Rao about 9 years ago