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How Is Guy Montag A Hero

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Heroes (and Lack Thereof) Heroes come in every shape and form, from the handsome, nobly born to the unattractive, cowardly commoner. These heroes are found in every genre and time period in literature, from centuries-ago stage dramas to the modern day romance novel, from the Aristotelian tragic hero to the antihero. In Fyodor Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment, the protagonist, Rodion Romanovitch Raskolnikov, identifies chiefly with the antihero, with qualities that may also be compared to those of a modern hero. An antihero is defined by the Merriam-Webster dictionary as “a main character in a book, play, movie, etc., who does not have the usual good qualities that are expected in a hero”. In other words, where a hero may be strong, an antihero …show more content…

A modern hero compares to an antihero in the essence that both are ordinary people who have human weaknesses. Raskolnikov is a modern hero in the fact that he is an “everyman” who has human weaknesses, such as poverty and severe anxiety. However, a more fitting example of a modern hero is Guy Montag from Ray Bradbury’s Faahrenheit 451. Montag begins as a seemingly normal “fireman”, but begins doubting himself and society upon meeting a young, insightful girl named Clarisse. Montag carries on with his job, burning books even though he doesn’t agree with it. After a period of intense inner turmoil, Montag eventually rebels against the firemen and stands up for what he believes. Montag is a modern hero in that he is just an ordinary man who struggles to differentiate between right and wrong and is trapped doing a job he disagrees with. Another example of a modern hero is Winston Smith from George Orwell’s 1984. Winston, though miserable, had to pretend he was content with the poor state of society. Eventually he decides to make an effort to find the Brotherhood, a rebel society. Although it turns out to be a ploy to catch thought criminals and he doesn’t succeed in his endeavors, he still possesses qualities of a modern hero. A modern, more easily recognizable modern hero, however, is Katniss Everdeen from Suzanne Collins’s The Hunger Games Trilogy. Katniss is an ordinary resident of District 12 who volunteers as tribute when her younger sister is reaped. Katniss struggles internally to figure out whether she should lead the rebellion as desired by

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