Heroes by Robert Cormier opens with a powerful literary scene. This scene describes all the wounds that ex-war ‘hero’ Francis has obtained. This scene is confronting as it graphically describes, in great detail his basic bodily functions. Cormier also elucidates Francis’ physical and emotional features upon returning to Frenchtown. The use of short sentences alludes to the narrative voice of Francis which allows the reader to feel as if we are listening to his thoughts. This results in a detailed and brutal description of himself which has a great impact.
Heroes is not confined to a chronological narrative, it moves from past and present. Cormier has used this technique to manipulate the readers into a erroneous thoughts about the main protagonists;…show more content… Individually their back stories are told, each with different reputations but all being labelled “heroes” in different aspects. Larry is built up to be a caring friend to Nicole and Francis, essentially pairing the two together. The reader sees Larry as the “nice guy” and as one who contributes to his social group. Cormier then destroys any possibility of Larry being heroic as it reveals that he violates and ravages young girls. His sexual predation is compounded when he tells Francis in their climatic final confrontation that he feels no remorse for his rapes, stating he is physically unable to enjoy “dancing in the dark…with sweet young things”.
Francis is built up as a war hero, one that contributes and fights for his country. He was so successful during his time at war that he earned a war medal. This however was a false indication of the true meaning behind his heroic actions. Cormier has built up an archetypical and charismatic man who is idolised by young kids, deceiving the reader, however without warning this heroic vibe was crushed as it was revealed that Francis jumped on the grenade to commit suicide. Cormier has cemented this betrayal in the reader’s mind which questions how trustworthy Francis actually is and his retelling of his
