Heroes Themes

By the time Heroes begins, Francis’s childhood is already over. Even before he was traumatized by the horror of war, his innocence was shattered by the rape of his childhood sweetheart, Nicole. Cormier uses flashbacks to present Francis’ childhood as an ideal time, characterized by innocence and a tendency to both simplify the world and magnify the significance of trivial problems. By presenting Francis’s simple childhood problems alongside his complicated postwar problems…

As the title suggests, Heroes raises significant questions about what constitutes heroism. Francis, the novel’s protagonist, and Larry LaSalle, the antagonist, have both received the Silver Star medal for heroism in combat. However, Cormier shows a significant disconnect between the public perception of both men’s “heroic” acts and the private motivations for those acts. By exploring the selfishness, cowardice, and even malevolence of publicly recognized heroes, Cormier questions whether heroism can ever be…

Throughout Heroes, Cormier presents a disconnection between outward appearances and internal realities. By revealing the contradictions of characters, places, and even the war itself, Cormier highlights how pleasant appearances will never be able to erase the pain and suffering they conceal—and, in certain instances, they may even exacerbate the problem. In Heroes, a new appearance often has the purpose of attempting to erase an uncomfortable past. For instance, Francis’ scarf, hat, and…