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Heroes

£4.495£8.99Clearance
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I really enjoyed this book by Cormier - The dark theme that runs through the book is quite haunting. Distraught, Francis waited outside of Nicole’s house for days until she finally came out and angrily sent him away. That night, contemplating suicide, Francis climbed the steeple of the town church, but ultimately decided that to take his own life in such an obvious way would only disgrace his family. The next day, he altered his birth certificate and enlisted in the Army, hoping to die “with honor” in combat. Throughout the past few years, I have grown as a person- and so has my taste of books. I used to adore YA books, with cliché romance plots and heartwarming love stories to more sort of philosophical books, which most of the stories took part in 20th century america. Francis Joseph Cassavant is the main character and first person narrator of Heroes. As the novel opens, we learn that he has returned from fighting in the Second World War. The war has changed him, both physically and mentally. He is disguised by a scarf and a bandage, which cover up his horrific facial injuries, and nobody recognises him. Therefore he watches events as an outsider, even though he was born and raised in Frenchtown. Through Francis’ eyes we see how soldiers are viewed and treated by the people who never went to war. He also describes his life as a child and teenager, growing up in the town, adding that he was very shy. The novel begins with Francis’ alarming announcement that he has no face. He describes his terrible injuries and says that they have made his life difficult because he has trouble breathing and swallowing. His voice has also changed, becoming hoarse close hoarse Rough/harsh/croaky. and deep.

Larry is still manipulative when Francis visits him at the end of the novel. He already knows that Francis was injured in the war – Don’t be afraid to show your face, Francis. That face, what’s left of it, is a symbol of how brave you were, the Silver Star you earned... He is telling Francis what to think and feel, just as he always did. Larry seems old and unable to walk, even though he says, No wounds that you can see, Francis. But I’m worn out. Francis thinks to himself, Maybe your sins [are] catching up with you. After the two of them have talked about the past, and Francis has told Larry that he wanted to die because of what Larry did to Nicole, Larry honestly seems surprised, and replies, You wanted to die because of that? It is clear that he has attached no importance to the event, a fact which is supported by the suggestion that Nicole was not his only victim; he talks to Francis about the sweet young things... e=Even their heat is sweet... He adds, Everybody sins, Francis. The terrible thing is that we love our sins. We love the thing that makes us evil. I love the sweet young things.The novel has a very complicated outlook on heroism and what defines a hero. Francis is considered to be a hero as his actions during the war saved the lives of others, but the reader is asked to consider if cowardly actions can result in heroic consequences. Francis Joseph Cassavant is eighteen. He has just returned home from the Second World War, and he has no face. He does have a gun and a mission: to murder his childhood hero.

She takes a long time to understand that what happened that night was Larry’s fault alone. She admits this to Francis at the end of the novel, adding that she felt unable to blame Larry because she knew that nobody would believe her: The police? He was a big war hero. He didn’t beat me up. No visible wounds. She apologises to Francis, saying I shouldn’t have said those things to you that day... You weren’t to blame for what happened. She adds, I realised that later... So the reader sees that, like Francis, she has carried a heavy burden for years. Left without a face or a future, but sustained by his deep sense of shame, Francis watches. He thinks of the gun in his duffel bag and waits, alone, for the return of another supposed hero. Francis is a good Catholic boy. He has been raised in the Catholic religion, like most people in Frenchtown. He went to St Jude’s Parochial School, which was run by nuns, and he used to be an altar boy in St Jude’s Church. He prays often, for his dead parents and brother; for men who were in the war with him; for the girl he has always loved, Nicole Renard; and finally, I pray for Larry Lasalle. He adds that this is the man I am going to kill. As a result of his religious upbringing, Francis also carries a lot of guilt with him.

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Just like 'Of Mice and Men', I thought that 'Heroes' was very clever, and it became more so to me the more times I read it. It was less the actual content, but the structure that made it so. There was the story of Francis's childhood, and his escapades with Larry and Nicole, his experiences in the war, and finally, his post-war life, hiding from the world and waiting for his enemy to come home. When he fell onto a live grenade, he was willing to sacrifice his life to save his platoon. But Cormier shatters this illusion by revealing that Francis' act was not truly selfless, but rather a desperate attempt at suicide. Despite what I said before about it being the structure rather than the content that contributes to the book's success, I find the themes that are interwoven throughout the story to be very effective, particularly that of heroism and what defines it, war in its many forms, love, and the loss of innocence. Each individual story is paced nicely, and all three intertwine, all the pieces coming together to form the picture that is Francis' life.

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