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...

In Which The Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man is Concerned

Heroism in The Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man...

There doesn't appear to be what one would label as classic "heroism" in The Artist. No flashing swords. No dangerous fights for honor. No dragons. Yet, despite the fact that a) this was not my favorite book (not my least favorite, but not my favorite), and b) Stephen is in many ways similar to Shawn who I tore apart in my last post on Playboy of the Western World, Stephen does manage to pull of a spout of heroism.

No, Stephen does not appear to search for his identity and role in being part of a warrior society. But he does fulfill other parts of the heroic code. It is indisputable that he follows what he does best--his writing. Through his writing Stephen fulfills other parts of the heroic code: the desire to be recognized and persuing excellence.

Actually, come to think of it, he does search for his identity and role in being part of a warrior society. That is the entire focus point of the book, Stephen searching for who he is and where he belongs in his society of competition, fear, and others and thier perceptions of the world. Throughout the story he hids behind masks: reckless and completely the church, devoted beyond belief, nonchalant, and finally he appears to come into his own. He eventually becomes comfortable with who he is, and no longer needs to prove himself to anyone. Not the deans at school. Not his friends. Not his father. He develops his own sense of the world, and expressing how he sees it.

Wild spring. Scudding clouds. O life! Dark stream of swirling bogwater on which apple trees have cast down their delicate flowers.

In Which the Phrase from The Playboy of the Western World is Concerned

I realized I forgot to address a certain phrase...

Act Three. Page 108. A little bit farther than halfway down the page. Christy is tied up.

Shawn: I'm afeard of him. [To Pegeen] Lift a lighted sod, will you, and scorch his leg.

This epitomizes Shawn. His timid, cowardly side, yet though he is afraid of being hurt himself, he feels no qualms about inflicting pain on another. He seems to be a proper Catholic, but does not observe love thy neighbor as thyself...

Is this why he is so un-heroic??? His inability to forgive, that his greatest strength and trait (his Catholicism) becomes his greatest fault (his inability to follow it completely). He appears to be completely devoted, but does not follow it to the greatest extent in his ability.

So maybe instead of criticizing staunch Catholicism, as I thought yesterday, maybe Synge is criticizing those who claim to be staunch Catholics, but truly aren't. He's criticizing the opposites of what they say and what they actually do.