In Which Beloved is Concerned

Heroism and Beloved.

There are some who say Sethe was heroic. There are some who say she was not. Ella: she didn't take Sethe as heroic. If anything, she took her as demonic. As far as she's concerned, she "ain't got no friends take a handsaw to their own children" (221).

Baby Suggs held on for love, but I don't think she understood. Or she may have understood, but in a different sense. If anyone there could understand where Sethe was coming from, it was Baby Suggs--but she was at Sweet Home when it was still relatively sweet--before the Schoolteacher came, before life went to hell in a hand basket. Baby Suggs wasn't there as Sethe was milked. Baby Suggs wasn't there. Baby Suggs couldn't really understand killing the already crawling? baby to keep her from the Schoolteacher. Baby Suggs was separated from all her children except Halle, she never truly had the connection Sethe had developed with her children. Paul D. was right, you must love small, other wise life becomes unbearable.

But Sethe. Sethe must have been, in at least some manner, heroic. She killed what she loved most to keep them from worse.

Denver though--she was the most heroic to me. She was constantly slighted--almost given the "short end of the stick" as it were. When Paul D. came, Sethe turned from Denver to Paul D. When Beloved came, Beloved cared not for Denver, but for Sethe. Eventually, Sethe seemed to care not for Denver (or even Paul D.), but for Beloved. Only Beloved. Despite this, maybe in spite of this, Denver continued to care for Sethe and Beloved. She stepped out into the community to ask for help. She searched for work. So they might eat. So they might live.

In Which The Stranger is Concerned

In many ways, Mersault is a heroic antihero.
>He is unconcerned about his role in a warrior society, despite the fact he killed the Arab.
>He has absolutely no desire to be recognized (In the beginning of the trial, he realizes "Usually people didn't pay much attention to me. It took some doing on my part to understand that I was the cause of all the excitement"(83)).
>Mersault does not care about immortality.
>Nor does he feel particularly worthy and peruse what he does best.
>Obviously, he is unaffected by a desire to not loose face or honor (seeing as he is relatively undisturbed by his-murdering-someone-and-ensuing-trial).

But yet, near the end, he does manage to reach a state of heroism, even by the classical code.
>By the end, the does desire to be recognized, if only to the extent "for a large crowd of spectators...[to] greet me with cries of hate"(123).
>He finds his place in a warrior society--if not as a warrior, in "the gentle interference of the world" wherein he finds inner peace, a solace.

Mersault also reaches a kind-of-heroism beyond the traditional definition:
>He reaches a state of understanding, almost of reconciliation. He realizes that "So close to death, Maman must have felt free then and ready to live it all again. Nobody, nobody had the right to cry over her" (122).
>He refuses to lie throughout the entire story. Whether it be conscious or unconscious, it is there nonetheless. I believe it is conscious—stemming from his realization that "none of it really mattered" (41). This requires a sort of bravery, even if it is buffered by a nonchalant attitude.
>His consistency is also very commendable. Even while in jail, though he is affected, his personality does not range, like Raymond's does.

I also feel Marie is over looked. She seems to have a much stronger personality and be much less fickle than portrayed. As far as we know (it can be inferred as such), she remains true to Mersault even after he a) kills someone b) is put in jail c) remains in jail d) goes through trial and e) is sentenced to death. She visits him in jail and attends his trial. He discounts her quickly by assuming she was now offering herself to "another Mersault." Marie is extremely brave to have held on that long—I don't think any of us (at least me) would have held it against her if she'd jumped ship after Mersault killed the Arab, let alone after contact was cut off while he was in jail. I also think this answers a question about love. Although it doesn't matter if it's there or not (according to Mersault), love is here. Otherwise, how could she have gone through this for a condemned man? I feel that love is ever present, whether it is detected or not; "to me she was Marie" (99).

In Which The Metamorphosis is Concerned

Hmmm....the Hero in The Metamorphosis. An interesting idea.

I did not actually pick out any of the characters as being particularly heroic, or heroic at all. I was a big fan of Grete, Gregor's sister, until she turned around and decided that Gregor was not Gregor and was the source of all their problems.

I suppose the father could be a sort of hero. Due to his new circumstances, he pulls himself up and away from his easy life at home and pushes himself back into the world of work, and suceeds. He places his entire being and soul into his new position and constantly tries to do what is best for his family.

In a way, that is more heroic than the knight in shining armor riding off to save the poor princess from the dragon...