|
Fran Shaff | What Makes a Character Heroic?
Men tough enough to meet titanic challenges, women courageous enough to push
through the worst trials, admirable people who, despite their human weaknesses
and faults overcome disasters and do the right thing--these are the kind of
people we want in our stories.
We want heroes! Strong, understanding, empathetic, loving, righteous men and
women pique our interest. We want to discover how they are going to handle the
impossible situations confronting them in the literature we read.
Some stories star natural heroes. Superman, for example, can certainly be called
a hero because he uses his super powers for good rather than evil. Since he is
impervious to nearly all forms of destruction, no one can force him to be good
or evil. The choice he makes is totally his. But how difficult can it be for
this character to be a hero when practically every heroic thing he does takes
little effort on his part because his natural powers are so strong?
In Steinbeckβs Grapes of Wrath a very
non-super, normal group of people is faced with extreme poverty during some of
the most horrible economic times in US history. The family, as uneducated,
humble and down-to-earth as they are, behaves heroically when they leave their
home and venture into the unknown to find a way to survive. Readers travel side
by side with the Joads, as they face hardships with them, live through the
sorrow of their poverty and loss of life, struggle moment to moment through
great daily discomforts. We readers canβt help but admire the staggering amount
of courage it takes for these folks to simply get up each morning and face
another dismal, hopeless day. The Joad family is heroic, and they are also
terribly human.
Sometimes a character must find a way to become heroic after heβs done something
shameful. In For Love of
Maggie, my triple-award-winning novel recently released in paperback, the
hero Roth Simons is immediately attracted to heroine Kayla Franklin. Kayla has
gone instantly gaga over him too--until he sees and reacts badly to her young
daughter Maggie who has Down Syndrome. Roth is remorseful straight away for his
shameful behavior, but he understands no mere apology will ever set things right
between him and Kayla. Yet he absolutely must make amends to her and to Maggie.
His self-imposed path to redemption requires monumental courage on his part as
he must face demons from the past and extreme challenges of the present. Roth is
in for the emotional struggle of his life. The great courage he must have to
make the necessary sacrifices and to suffer the pain he must endure to
adequately make amends for his heart-wrenching mistake definitely requires
heroic courage on his part.
Any ordinary character or person, for that matter, can become heroic, but it is
rarely easy. Heroism requires courage, perseverance and the ability to do the
right thing, no matter what the cost.
Whether it is pampered Scarlet OβHara saving the lives of her family and
servants at post-war Tara, innocent death-row convict John Coffey of Stephen Kingβs Green Mile using his healing powers
to heal those who have incarcerated him or Rafe Wallace from my book Stolen Son willingly
surrendering his beloved son to set things right with the boyβs birth mother,
heroes are born through great challenges and enormous sacrifice.
And donβt these heroic characters provide us with some great entertainment!
Fran Shaff,
Award-Winning Author
website
Comments
11 comments posted.
Re: Fran Shaff | What Makes a Character Heroic?
Hi Fran, Your characters sound intriguing
in FOR LOVE OF MAGGIE. You're right.
The characters are what make the story
interesting. Looking forward to reading
your work.
(Sandra Leesmith 10:05am September 10, 2010)
Heroes come from the inside out, since it's their quality of core values that shows. Thanks for the tips on strong heroes.
(Alyson Widen 12:30pm September 10, 2010)
Your books sound like they not only tear at your heart, but they tear at your gut as well!! I'll have to make it a point to read both of your books. I'm sorry to say that I wasn't familiar with your books until now, and I'm itching to get my hands on them. They sound like the perfect read to curl up with on a fall weekend. They also give you food for thought by the topics you chose. It's a most interesting twist from the other books that I've been seeing lately.
(Peggy Roberson 3:30pm September 10, 2010)
Heroes step into danger to protect others.
(Mary Preston 6:25pm September 10, 2010)
Hi Fran,
Great blog and yes this is what we want in our stories. The comparison at the end of books and their characters was a perfect example. Your books sound very interesting and through your blog I would definetly read them. Thank you for sharing with us.
(Chris Jones 9:13pm September 10, 2010)
Great heros make great books and your books sound like they are very intersting reads. Thanks for sharing!
(Brenda Rupp 9:55pm September 10, 2010)
True heroes struggle every day to face
life's challenges the best they can.
They refuse to give up even when
they know the odds are against them.
It is much more difficult to maintain
your courage over an extended period
of time dealing with personal and
family difficulties than it is to react in
the short term to a dangerous
situation.
The warrior who will rescue the
maiden from the bad guy is no more
or less heroic than the man who will
will marry the one he loves and
struggle to provide her and their
family a good life.
(Patricia Barraclough 10:55pm September 10, 2010)
A man that can cry in front of someone else, a strong, independent woman who can swallow her pride and ask for help.
(Kelli Jo Calvert 11:14pm September 10, 2010)
True Heros need to have morals and a code that they hold themselves too,How they handle challenges (and a smoken hot body helps :o) for us girls)
(Vickie Hightower 1:13pm September 11, 2010)
What a wonderful description of heroes. It's certainly not what is generally described as heroic these days. Yes, people who overcome their own limitations to do something special for someone else may still have their moment in the spotlight, but movie stars, singers, sports icons are constantly noted as heroes when I believe only a few of them are even worthy to be called role models, never mind heroes. I think the celebrity cult has gone way too far overboard.
(Sigrun Schulz 5:38pm September 11, 2010)
Wow, I'm blown away by the wonderful comments made regarding this blog. I'm very pleased we have such an interesting discussion going. Thank you to everyone who stopped by to read about heroic characters, and thanks to all of you who took the time to leave comments and contribute to the discussion. Fran
(Fran Shaff 2:18pm September 12, 2010)
Registered users may leave comments.
Log in or register now!
| 
© 2003-2026