Rating the Heroes of the Semester

Odysseus – 6/10

A surprisingly low score for the most famous literary hero of all time, I know. I have to admit, Odysseus wasn’t my favorite hero – but perhaps that’s what Emily Wilson intended by making him a “complicated man” (instead of a more obvious hero). Our Odysseus is somewhat brash and self-indulgent, his fatal flaw of hubris obvious to the eye (at least in this translation). While I enjoy his cleverness and courage, I’m a little bit less impressed by his half-inability to overcome this fatal flaw. I’d argue that the supposed character shift he experiences at the end (deciding not to attack the townspeople) is all engineered by Athena, as she’s the one who stops Odysseus from attacking and ties up his story in a nice little bow. While I like Odysseus, I can’t help but think that his character (as a hero) is a little bit static. He goes through all the motions of a typical hero’s journey, but his inner self remains largely unchanged – and it is for this reason that I have to give him a 6 out of 10.

Anse(???) – -23/10

Cash(???) – 6.5/10

I really can’t tell who the hero of As I Lay Dying is. Most of the characters’ journeys follow a twisted version of the typical hero’s journey structure (everyone has a reason to get to town, everyone encounters obstacles, et cetera, et cetera.) The only characters who seem to finish their arc in a somewhat happy way (for them) are Anse, who gets a new wife, and Cash, who becomes narrator. (As a review of what happens to the others – Darl gets arrested, Dewey Dell never gets her abortive tonic, Jewel loses his horse, and Vardaman eats a banana.)

I’d rate Anse a -23 out of 10. He’s just a terrible human being – he causes Cash’s amputation, steals Dewey Dell’s money and Jewel’s horse, and still claims that he takes care of his own. To add insult to injury, he struts out of town with a new wife (after going to all that trouble to bury Addie, claiming that it was all for love). I was willing to see him as an untwisted hero in the beginning (maybe his journey is about radically changing towards heroism?), but I lost patience with Anse long before they even got to town. Maybe his hero’s journey is fulfilled, but stealing his kids’ livelihoods isn’t a lifestyle anyone should look up to.

Cash, on the other hand, is a pretty solid guy, especially in comparison to all the weirdos around him. He’s a hard worker (in stark contrast to Anse), nobly stoic, and isn’t a burden on those around him. He doesn’t complain – even in his own narration – when he loses his leg, and eventually matures to a philosophical, almost-Darl like narrative style. I only gave him a lower score because I’m not sure he’s quite the hero of the novel. While he certainly could be a hero, his arc is largely separate from the lives of his family, and he plays a less influential part than Anse (or even Darl) does.

Grant 7/10

Jefferson 15/10

I think there are arguably two heroes in A Lesson Before Dying. Grant, our narrator, is given a hero’s journey to finish (teach Jefferson how to die, and teach the quarter’s children how to live) that he does not quite finish. While he does teach Jefferson to some extent, I’d argue that Jefferson eventually grows above him in having to be Grant’s hero, thus softening the effect of Grant’s own heroism. Grant also fails to be with Jefferson in his last hour, and his teaching style towards his younger students remains mostly static. While Grant is definitely on his way toward being a true hero for the quarter, he’s not quite there at the end of the novel, which is why I have to dock three points from his score.

Jefferson, on the other hand – what do I even say about Jefferson? He’s just grown so much through the length of the novel, and I’m sure his touching and brave diary entries made everyone tear up a little. He’s gone from seeing himself as a hog to becoming the hero for his community, carrying their crosses and breaking the white man’s myth through his incredible courage in death. He’s learned not only how to live and die, but how to love his quarter, and the noble emotion behind his death is overwhelmingly heroic. Jefferson is an amazing hero, and certainly my favorite hero in this list.

Jack 9.5/10

Well, everybody loves Jack. How could we not? He’s so smart and brave and the light of Ma’s life. The relationship between Jack and Ma is just heartwarming, and he is undoubtedly one of the most fearless heroes we’ve read this semester.

I only took away half a point because of how he went through his “refusal of the call”, and how desperate Ma seemed to get at his response. While I completely understand not wanting to go through with a plan (Jack was a trooper during that part), Jack just dismissing Ma’s clearly emotional stories was a harder pill to swallow. When Ma starts telling him about her past life outside, he only responds with “nah” and “no way Jose”, even as she’s clearly becoming distressed. That incident is the reason that Jack’s not a perfect ten – besides his initial disregard for Ma’s past, the bond between them is undeniable.

Macon – ?/10

I really don’t know how I feel about Macon – I think I’ll have to read the book over again to truly decide. My feelings towards Macon are either “okay, good point” or “what is he doing?” At times (usually in the beginning of the book), he’s able to speak sensibly (or even enlighteningly) about race. What he says to the crowd after being bailed out of jail is surprisingly self-aware and highlights a lot of the unacknowledged parts of casual racism. Macon, however, has always made me uncomfortable with his whole “I know better than everyone, even the black people” rhetoric. That whole thing with the Black Student Union at the beginning of the book and the fiasco Day of Apology highlight Macon’s unwillingness to listen, and that doesn’t sit right with me.