Robert Cormier Heroes Literary Analysis

“The contemporary world can only appear unified if discordant voices, those not representing the dominant ideological view, are marginalized” (Head). In Heroes, Francis Cassavant has just returned to his hometown after war. His face has been ruined by a grenade during war and he is back for one thing, to kill his childhood hero. Along the way running into a girl he met back in 7th grade. Robert Cormier uses imagery and characterization to show deception in society.

One of the literary elements Cormier uses in Heroes is imagery. Throughout the story, Cormier, creates images that represent the material sense of society. “Anyway, this gives you an idea of what I look like when I walk down the street. People glance at me in surprise and look away quickly or cross the street when they see me coming. I don’t blame them.”(Cormier 4). People who read Cormier’s books get a taste of the bitter society we live. He creates the pictures of how deceiving society can be. His use of imagery is a good thing that speaks to young adults more than adults. Young adults can relate to some of the troubles and judging society he describes throughout the book. He does the

The character Nicole who was Francis’ girlfriend at the time has some that she realizes many years later. “‘He was…’ ‘Don’t say it Francis. I know what he was. For a while there he made me feel special. Made me think I was a ballerina. Now I’m starting to find out what I am, who I really am…’”(Cormier 127). Cormier created problems for his characters that represented what life was actually like and how people really are. People aren’t all heroes in life no matter what they may perceive you to think, which Nicole witnesses this first hand with Larry. When Larry rapes nicole, she starts to realize then the true horror in people. Before that moment she was lead to believe that he was a hero because that’s how their society saw