Many great
literary novels have the protagonist, the main character of the novel, being
portrayed as the "hero". There
are many different deeds and actions that can characterize a person as a hero
such as saving someone from a burning house at the risk of one's own life. The main distinguishing characteristic of a
true hero is self-sacrifice, whether it be scarifice of your own personal
desires or ideals or sacrifice of physical well being to help others. There are a few novels in which the main character
of the work does not exemplify the deeds and thought of a true hero. Two such works include Stephen Cranes' The
Red Badge of Courage and Ernest Hemingway's A Farewell to Arms.
Both The Red Badge of Courage and A Farewell to
Arms have war as the background of the story.
War is the perfect setting in which one can be tested to see if he or
she is a hero. This idea is the major
framework of The Red Badge of Courage, in which Henry Fleming aspires to be a
man, a "hero" in the eyes of the masses by enlisting in the
army. Henry's goal of returning a man
from war has already marred his image of being a potential hero because his
thoughts are about himself and not about the welfare of others. Also, the fact that he wants to impress
people and appear heroic is a selfish aspiration. Heroes act not to impress others but to help
them. Usually the actions of a hero are
impulsive and not premeditated because the hero does what he/she believes is
right and what their heart tells them is right and not what others judge is
right.
In The Red Badge of Courage, Henry is
preoccupied about whether or not he's going to run when it comes time to
fight. After the second skirmish, the
readers find out that he does indeed run from battle but that's not what makes
him a non-hero. It's the fact that he
tries to rationalize and justify his running.
He says that his running is "... not a fault, a shameful thing; it
was an act obedient to a law." He
also uses nature to justify his running such as when he throws something at a
squirrel and it runs away. He's also
egotistical when he says that his running away was done with
"dignity" as compared to the others who ran like cowards. To make matters worse, after Henry is
rejoined with his regiment, he lies about getting separated from the regiment
and with the aid of a fradulent head wound, his story is not questioned by
others. But Henry's mind is always full
of thoughts of how to save himself embarrassment that he even stoops to thinking
about blackmailing his friend Wilson with the packet of letters that were given
to him. "He now rejoiced in the
possession of a small weapon with which he could prostrate his comrade at the
first signs of a cross-examination."
Another instance in which Henry acts
unheroically is in the desertion of the tattered soldier. Henry could be juxtaposed to the tattered
soldier to show how a hero should act.
Unlike Henry who is always thinking about his self image, the tattered
soldier, although he is shot and hurt himself, asks about Henry's well
being. But when the tattered man asks
Henry, "Where yeh hit?", Henry gets nervous that he might be labeled
as a coward for not having a wound that justifies that he did fight and so he
gives the tattered man the slip. When
the tattered soldier meets Henry again at the place where both witness Jim
Conklin's strange death, he asks about Henry's hurt again only to be chided
with "Oh, don't bother me."
Then Henry deserts him again and leaves him to wander helplessly in the
fields.
Henry Fleming could still be labeled a hero if
he changes at the end and learns from his experiences. But at the end of the novel, he's still as
self-absorbed and egotistical as he was before.
When the battle is over and they're marching home, Henry is informed
that one of their fellow soldiers, Jimmie Rogers is dead, Henry doesn't really
give it much thought but goes right on thinking about how "...his public
deeds were paraded in great and shining prominence" and how the
performances "... had been witnessed by his fellows...". His recollections are interrrupted for a
moment by the memory of the tattered man but "...he mustered the force to
put the sin at a distance." He uses
his art of rationalization again and is able to excuse himself by saying that
he's to utilize that sin in preventing him from making another mistake in the
future. His last thought is "He was
a man."
A similar analogy of the protagonist not being
the hero of the story is illustrated in Ernest Hemingway's A Farewell to
Arms. In this work, Frederic Henry, a
lieutenant in the Italian army, thinks in a similar way to Henry Fleming. Frederic also has a strong tendency to
rationalize every action, especially when he feels guilty. Also, he seldom blames himself for anything
but blames fate or the world instead. In
the beginning of the story, all Henry mainly does is drink a lot and have many
love affairs. This is not characteristic
of a hero, for a hero is supposed to be more righteous. In his relationship with Catherine Barkley,
he treats it as a "game of sex" with all the moves being
calculated. He doesn't want to fall in
love with her but just wants an affair with her. In the sixth chapter of the novel, Frederic
is willing to play along with Catherine and says that he loves her just so that
he get what he wants.
Another instance of selfish thought is shown
when Frederic and Catherine does finally have a serious relationship. Catherine
is unselfish for she is willing to be "part of him" and make him her
religion but he just thinks that he will be trapped by her love. She is willing to do everything for his sake,
to make his life simpler. For
example, when Frederic receives his
papers for a convalescent leave, she is willing to go with him but he just
thinks that things might be difficult to manage if she comes along. To ease his troubles she replies, "If
necessary I'll simply leave."
Catherine Barkley is more characteristic of a
hero than Frederic Henry is. He is
motivated by his own desires and fears, whereas she is strong and breaks
through any barriers that block their happiness even when she sees herself dead
in the rain. Even when they are happy
together in Switzerland, Frederic still can not entirely forget about the war. He feels guilty about deserting the army and
says to Catherine, "I feel like a criminal." Even when Catherine is dying, Frederic
cannot escape the war and he goes to the cafe and reads the paper of the man
sitting next to him. Also, when
Catherine is pregnant, Frederic seems to be bothered by it and feels that he is
"trapped biologically". In the
hospital, when Catherine is experiencing labor pains and wants him to give her
gas so that she won't feel so much pain, he doesn't want to turn the dial that
would administer the gas. He remarks
that he is "... afraid of the numbers above two." This could apply to their relationship in
that he doesn't want a child for that would bring him difficulties and
"trap" him.
At the end of the novel, Catherine dies due to
the difficulties of labor, but she dies heroically. She accepts death as the end to things and
says, "I'm not a bit afraid. It's
just a dirty trick." Frederic Henry
reaction is bitterness towards death. He
blames the unidentified forces of the universe
and strikes out against them to disguise his own guilt, just like Henry
Fleming from The Red Badge of Courage.
Thus, Frederic is not a hero for he doesn't make any self-sacrifices but
is concerned only with self-preservation and is bothered by any limitations put
on him.
The protagonists in the two novels, The Red
Badge of Courage and A Farewell to Arms are not heroes for their deeds and
actions are motivated by selfishness. In
The Red Badge of Courage, Henry's deeds and thoughts are concerned with how to
make him appear a hero in the eyes of others.
Similarly, in A Farewell to Arms, Frederic's thoughts are on
self-preservation and the freedom to do what he wants because he doesn't like
to feel trapped.
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