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Example research essay topic: Designated As An Antihero Role As Protector Frederic - 1,948 words

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One central feature of modern life and literature is the dearth of traditional heroes and heroines, persons of unusual courage and strength who act boldly on behalf of their friends and allies. In classical literature they were often the children of one mortal and one divine parent, and thus their deeds were favoured by the gods. In more recent literature a hero or heroine was still bold, noble, and courageous and often one who sacrificed ones power or even life for others. Thinking of Frederic Henry in these terms seems inappropriate. Even though he has some characteristics of the traditional hero, several of his most important actions (or inaction's) lead us to conclude that he might better be designated as an antihero, a protagonist who significantly lacks key heroic qualities. Considering his character in outline, one might conclude that Frederic has some heroic qualities.

His strength is evidenced in several episodes. The first is his survival of the artillery bombardment that kills one of his men in the same dugout. Though hit badly, he generously offers to let others be treated before him. Then he fully recovers from his wounds, and in a few months he even more dramatically illustrates his strength by running from his captors, diving fully clothed into a flooded river, and perilously swimming to safety.

A third demonstration of his prowess occurs at yet another turning point when, briefly helped by Catherine, he rows a boat all night long for more than 20 miles in their escape from Switzerland. His courage is likewise demonstrated in this episode, as it is earlier in the stress of the hazardous retreat. He is fully aware of the dangers from both the enemy and the Italians, who mistake him and his drivers for Germans, kill one of them, and then threaten to summarily try and execute Frederic. His escape is an act worthy of a true hero, and it comes as no surprise.

We are quite ready to accept the episode as in keeping with his character. So we have seen that Frederic possesses the strength, the courage and the boldness of a typical literary hero, but what of other traditional heroic characteristics? Given actual chances to help people, he, like hero, tries but, unlike a hero, fails: in chapter 7, Frederic tries to help the ruptured soldier who wants to get out of the war, but the ruse they agree to, in which the soldier injures himself, doesnt work. Soon thereafter, Frederic does manage to get some food for himself and his drivers. But while they are eating they are blown up by a huge trench mortar shell. Wounded himself, Frederic attempts to apply a tourniquet to the leg of the driver, Passing; however, he dies before Frederic can save him, just as another soldier haemorrhages to death in an ambulance and Frederic tries to but cannot aid him.

These episodes foreshadow Frederic's ultimate failure and helplessness at the end of the novel, when Catherine also haemorrhages to death. He may give her gas to ease the pain, but even that activity, as he recognises when he notes, It was very good of the doctor to let me do something, is minimal and for his benefit, not solely Catherines. Other episodes in which Frederic's desired role as protector and benefactor is frustrated occur when he gets Catherine pregnant, having often thought of his own pleasure but having never thought of the consequences for her of a pregnancy. The confrontation in the railway car when he is returning to the front is similar; he uses his rank and money to save himself a seat on the crowded train and relinquishes it to the tall gaunt captain... with a red scar along his jaw only when he faces the hostility as well as the superior virtue of the captain.

Later on, during the retreat, he fails to carry out his mission even though he strives mightily to do so. His ambulances and their loads of hospital equipment are lost, one of his drivers is killed, and one deserts. The one who remains with him changes somewhat the roles of the leader and the led: the reason Plan did not desert is that he did not want to leave Frederic alone; moreover, he forages food for them and takes Frederic by the arm and warns him of danger as they cross the bridge. The hitchhikers they had earlier picked up to help them too escape are indeed not helped. The two young sisters are virtually terrorism and are relieved when they are allowed to rejoin the main column of the retreat. The two sergeants they have picked up fare even less well in Frederic's role as protector.

The sergeants leave the stuck ambulances, refusing to help dislodge them, and Frederic shoots one of them. The act is the nadir of his failed role as leader and protector, and he so acknowledges It was my fault and I had failed at that. One final episode in this vein of failed hero occurs when Catherine is in labour, and although it might seem inconsequential, Frederic apparently felt it worth citing: A dog was nosing at one of the cans, and Frederic, once more trying to be a benefactor fails. He finds nothing on top but coffee-grounds, dust and dead flowers. There isnt anything, dog' he says, in a powerful image of failure, loss, and death.

Another traditional trait of a hero is his skill or craft but in the case of an antihero, craft turns to crafty and it is this characteristic which is more appropriate to Frederic. A good example occurs when he meets Catherine Barkley, finds her very beautiful and sets out to seduce her. His tactics are deliberate and clever; they are not noble or heroic. He does not win over Catherine by his courage in battle or in tournament, as a traditional hero would, becoming his ladys champion. When Catherine slaps him, resisting his advances, he deceitfully retreats and camouflages his anger by acknowledging, You did exactly right...

I dont mind at all. Instead he feels he had a certain advantage when she apologises, and he sees it all ahead like the moves in a chess game. Frederic's bold frontal attack on Catherine having been warded off, he resorts to trickery and uses his superior knowledge of the psychology of love to get around Catherine. Catherines innocence contrasts with Frederic's experience and shrewdness again on their last night together in Milan. Although he backs down from his trick to save himself a seat on the crowded train, the prior episode well demonstrates his worldly wisdom and craftiness. Of course Catherine wishes to be alone with Frederic during their last hours together, but it is he who knows that the hotel near the railway station will not stand on ceremony or inhibit the sin of fornication.

But Frederic ensures them against embarrassment by preceding Catherine and discretely talking to the manager, who, with plenty of rooms on his hands and a policy of prepayment from strangers, somewhat obsequiously ushers them to their overdecorated room. The hotel is not a whorehouse, but the red plush, the chandelier, the large satin-covered bed, and the many mirrors as well as the managers behaviour reveal it to Catherine as a place of illicit meetings. Thus, she is initially depressed I never felt like a whore before and Frederic is frustrated, thinking selfishly that his night of love will be spoiled. Oh, hell, I thought, do we have to argue now? . Since we know that Frederic has previously caroused in Milan and that the hotel manager remembered him as a friend, we can assume Frederic had brought actual whores to the hotel. No doubt Catherines brief depression is in recognition of the experience that must lie behind Frederic's worldly wisdom.

But she is no coy mistress, and by her own will she overcomes her unhappiness and makes the best of their quarters and their farewell. Another difference between Frederic and a typical hero is that instead of him influencing events, it is the events that seem to influence him. He may appear to be strong and wilful, but his story ends in defeat. He is a man to whom things happen, to whom things are done, a reactor more than an actor. His relationship with Catherine develops in an aimless, unthinking way as he reacts rather than consciously planning and thinking about consequences.

He first learns of her presence from his roommate, Lt. Rinaldi, but evinces no curiosity or interest in her. Nor does he do so in the next chapter, when Rinaldi asks him to call on Catherine with him. To Frederic she is very beautiful, and her story of the death of her fianc< i> and Rinaldi's judgement at the end of their visit that Catherine prefers Frederic combine to encourage him to visit her again the next evening. At the first opportunity, he attempts to kiss her, and although she initially slaps him, she apologises and then yields to his kiss and embrace. Frederic's behaviour is clearly aggressive and self-indulgent.

He will do and say anything, including I love you, to satisfy his desire, and it is only after his wounding that he believes he truly does love her. Elsewhere in the novel other episodes expose the same flaw of the man who reacts more than acts, who has craft, but who repeatedly fails. He is the modern hero, non heroic in that his strength of mind or body leads not to victory but to victimisation. He may fight back, and at times he may appear to have won, but at last he and those closest to him lose.

Reactive rather than active, seeking pleasure for himself rather than others, and underhanded rather than honest are the non heroic characteristics of the rogue. Frederic has been, as Ettore implies and as his conduct demonstrates, a boozer and w horehound, and both before and after he meets Catherine he has an eye for attractive women. To his friend Rinaldi, Frederic's desire for Catherine makes him a fool; likewise, to the friendly nurse Miss Gage he is a fool. To his friend the priest, he is a deluded patriot in an unflattering sense. On occasion he brags, flatters, and, as noted before, lies and deceives. He is sexually exploitive of Catherine and insensitive to the fears of the two young sisters hitchhiking with his ambulance unit during the retreat.

He can be sarcastic and mean, as in his description of the head nurse, Miss Van Came, even when in an act of reconciliation she sends him an eggnog laced with sherry. Although others often refer to him as a boy, a baby, and a puppy too, he patronizes his friend the priest by calling him a fine boy and rather meanly describes people who befriend him. Ralph Simmons, the American singer, is sarcastically described as always on the point of something very big happening. He was fat and looked shopworn around the nose and mouth as though he had hayfever. So despite possessing several heroic qualities such as physical strength, courage and boldness, the negative characteristics listed above combined with non heroic traits like commonplaceness, selfishness, the fact that he employs craftiness more than craft and his position as reactor more than actor lead to the conclusion that he may be better designated as an antihero rather then a hero. This is not to say that to most readers he is unsympathetic.

Indeed, we can perhaps more readily identify with him and understand his feelings, thoughts and actions because he is not heroic, is not remote, as is an Achilles or Hercules.


Free research essays on topics related to: frederic, episodes, catherine, heroic qualities, heroic

Research essay sample on Designated As An Antihero Role As Protector Frederic

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