Notesale: Turn your study into money

Document Preview

Extracts from the notes are below, to see the PDF you'll receive please use the links above

---

English Literature: Heroes by Robert Cormier
Themes
Heroism










Francis doesn‟t see himself as a hero, he‟s burdened by the concept of
heroism:
o “I am not a hero, of course” page 7; he has no doubt in his lack of
heroism
o “I don‟t know what a hero is any more, Nicole” page 94
o “Be whatever will make you happy” page 95
o “We weren‟t heroes” Arthur Rivier page 50 (Arthur is all the veterans)
Fictional heroes:
o Hero has another meaning; fictional hero! There‟s an irony that Francis
is the hero of this story (Farewell To Arms is a love story with a tragic
ending: foreshadowing
...
The idea of LaSalle as a hero is constantly repeated; “Larry
was our war hero” (page 62), “the dancer became a hero” (page 37)
etc
...
The real heroes” page 96
o The novel itself uses many supporting characters as vehicles to propel
the plot or drive a message: Joey LeBlanc and Marie LaCroix
...

Motivation for heroism:
o Francis questions that there is heroism in a selfless act done for a
selfish purpose; “„I‟m not a hero‟ I tell him” (page 80)
...

Veterans:
o “This is a season where veterans are welcome everywhere”
o “Not like the other veterans at St Jude‟s club” mindless idolisation of
them- they see him as a hero- raises the question of motive
o Mrs Bellander trusts him when she finds out he‟s a veteran
o He always just says “veterans” shows the depersonalising nature of
war
o “Nobody talks about the war” page 49
o “that I was harmless, a wounded veteran” page 90
“Of course you are, I heard about you” page 80 shows the idolism of fame?

Appearances










Love

Page 1 Francis describes his appearance
...
This is
reinforced through the use of colour in the novel
...

Idolism is a frequent concept throughout the novel
...
” Again Larry corrupts the concept of love
for Francis, by portraying what he did to Nicole as a kind of love
...
Cheeks moist with
tears
...
„white blouse torn‟
shows how the purity has been ruined
Modern kinda gal:
o “She didn‟t remind me of St Therese anymore” page 33
o “Insisted on buying her own ticket” page 53

Francis Cassavant









Maturity
o The novel is a bildungsroman- a coming of age story
...

 “Just two Frenchtown boys in uniform” (shows how tied up in
where he came from Francis was- relates to the time because
he didn‟t have access to much media etc
...
This raises a question of whether the religion‟s
interfered with him developing his own code of ethics
o Francis has a very strong moral code
Heroism
o Francis doesn‟t really like being thought of as a hero because he sees
motivation as a key element of heroism and believes his motivation
was selfish “I am not a hero”
o Larry LaSalle has tainted the concept of heroism for him and as such
the concept no longer means anything “you‟ve got a Silver Star too”
o This seems to conflict with Cormier‟s aim to honour ordinary acts of
heroism (MAYBE Francis isn‟t the hero of the novel?)
o Nicole gives him permission to not be a hero if he doesn‟t want to be
Identity
o Francis is confused about his identity: he‟s transient between two
different people
o The first is him as a child
...
His conversation with
Nicole at the end kind of gives him permission to form an identity “be
whatever will make you happy”

Larry LaSalle









Levels of reverence surrounding him
o “The patron saint of the Wreck centre” 36 he‟s also a religious figure! Is
there anything this man can‟t do!
o The Strangler pours himself of red wine; possible implication that he
knew? There‟s a cult of silence around him; point about the difficulty in
challenging authority
o He has immense power
o “He‟s tired, he wants to go” page 67: he suggests things and they go
along with them
o “Movie star smile gone” page 51- a moment of genuineness
He‟s like a movie star:
o CONSTANT comparison to a movie star: introduction page 29 “moviestar teeth”, “the crowd applauded”, “touch of Fred Astaire in his walk”
Fred Astaire was iconic with Ginger Rogers (shows Francis‟ paranoia)
“Larry says that‟s what people in show business do” page 44
o But movie stars are faking it: “he built a whole number around her”
page 42 he constructed a whole lie around her
o His first mention “man I am going to kill” air of mystery; Francis
romanticises him
Foreshadowing of his sinister nature:
o Joey Leblanc is used as a vehicle for foreshadowing and pointing out
LaSalle‟s imperfections to the reader:
 page 29 Joey LeBlanc is “talking out of turn” when he questions
him
 “But he still beats kids up in the schoolyard” page 31 Joey
LeBlanc said this too;
 JOEY LEBLANC page 32 “delighted in repeating” rumours about
him: foreshadowing of his later actions but the reader doesn‟t
take much stock in it at this stage “none of us dwelt on the
rumours”
 “Poor Joey LeBlanc had been right after all” page 33
 “Who was having a bad day with his serves” page 44
o “The better to see you” page 62 not dissimilar to the Red Riding Hood
quote
Lack of morality:
o “How many young girls had been invaded by him” page 81 („invaded‟
lexical field of war; he associates war with Larry‟s actions)
o “Sweet young things” page 81 Larry shows no remorse
o “I know what he was” page 91

Arthur Rivier












He was a baseball player who went to war: Francis calls him a “hero”
He recognises Francis
“We weren‟t heroes” Arthur Rivier page 50
This seems funny as it conflicts with Cormier‟s desire to “recognise the heroic
acts of ordinary people”
“The sacred war”:
This quote is undeniably religious – relates to the permeation of religion in
Frenchtown
A war with God but the implication is that it‟s a war with yourself
Vehicle for Francis‟ thoughts
a
...
“Like the mask of Tragedy” relating life back to a drama (reinforces the
fictional nature of the exchange) (Arthur plays a part, and his part is
the tragic veteran to reinforce the lack of glamour of the war)
“We were only there”
a
...

Plan:





Francis‟ reputation before the war: condescending, never thought much of himself
o His concern about bringing shame on his family; Catholicism
Nicole‟s fear of reputation- she never shared the assault with anyone
Larry‟s reputation- comparison to movie stars
Reputation of veterans; adored, but the general lack of support for them

Reputation is an important theme in Heroes by Robert Cormier
...

Before the war, Francis Cassavant‟s reputation seems to have hinged upon chasing balls at
the baseball court
...
This emphasises how childlike Francis was prior to the
war
...

Francis is anonymous after returning to Frenchtown, which has prevented him from forming
a reputation, and arguably an identity, as an adolescent
...

Veterans are idolised within Frenchtown to an extreme extent
...
This is emphasised when Larry
returns from war on leave and is referred to as “our war hero”, implying that even civilians of

Frenchtown feel special through association with veterans
...

However, it is heavily implied that, despite the superficial adoration for veterans, most people
aren‟t really interested in dealing with their actual issues
...
This is a sharp
contrast to the way he was portrayed two chapters prior- as a confident young man going to
college
...
It could be argued that
Francis is facing this mental illness, and the lack of support could be a contributing factor to
his general state of despair
...
When
Francis contemplates suicide due to guilt but ultimately decides against it, it‟s because he‟s
pondering if he could “disgrace [his parents‟] names in this way?” This also relates to
Frenchtown‟s strong Catholicism
...
All of these
factors mean that Francis would likely face scorn rather than sympathy and that his family‟s
reputation would be irretrievably harmed
...
Due to the time period, in which
women were generally seen as second-class citizens, as well as the town‟s Catholicism, it is
likely she too would‟ve faced scorn rather than support for her assault
...
This could be a major barrier to Nicole‟s healing
process
...

Larry, on the other hand, benefits hugely from reputation
...
Fred Astaire was a major movie
star at the time, famous for his teeth, his dancing and his association with Ginger Rogers
(which could foreshadow his perceived relationship to and assault of Nicole)
...
Not only does this
damage the concept of heroism irreparably for Francis, due to the adoration of veterans at
the time, it makes him seem completely untouchable and unquestionable
...

During the scene at the Strangler‟s bar, the Strangler himself “[pours] himself a glass of red
wine”, when Francis has “never seen him drink before” during the conversation about Larry
...
Joey LeBlanc is the only
character who questions LaSalle – in fact, he‟s used as a vehicle for any criticism and
foreshadowing of Larry‟s actions
...


All of this contributes to Larry‟s unquestionable reputation, which makes it even harder for
Nicole to speak about her assault
...

Reputation is an important theme throughout Heroes
...




---