Antihero
AntiheroSomebody Different or Special?
“Do not follow where the path may lead. Go instead where there is no path and
leave a trail” (Ralph Waldo Emerson). Many times Anti-heroes are the outcasts or quite
people in society. The do not care what other people think. But for the most part they do
these things just for the thrill or just to be different. The Classical American Hero on the
other hand looks for ways to do something spectacular. The anti-hero doesn’t like to
follow orders they would rather make their own rules up. These beliefs and ways that
anti-heroes go by can often bring out many flaws in the American Ideal that the classical
American Hero stands for and represents. This is because the anti-hero sees the frontier
different than other hard working Americans. They don’t see the wide open areas of
opportunity but rather look at the boundaries that are holding them back from reaching the
opportunities, and look for ways to overcome the boundaries. The anti-hero will always
be there in the American society to rise up and bring out the flaws in the American culture
as well as the Ideal, the only thing preventing corruption is the place in which the Hero
rises up and takes charge.
Back in the 1800’s when Mark Twain wrote one of the most famous anti-hero
novel ever, named The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn this was during a time when
anti-heroes were just now coming into glimpse with societies rising imperfections. The
novel was liked by so many due to the plot of a young boy going against the norm in
society. The novel also portrayed many other rising imperfections in society such as
slavery. Huck’s Companion is a black runaway slave joining Huck in his own search on
the frontier for their own American Ideals. Twain uses the word nigger many times in the
book, now some think Twain was racist and others just think that he was trying to show
how racism was back then. For every critic who thinks down on the book their is another
who thinks “the books that the world calls immoral are the books that show the world its
own shame,”(Oscar Wilde). As manly people think the book is full of negatives Huck
shows through many different events that even an outcast anti-hero has a conscious. As
when he and Jim ran into the two frauds and are forced into helping them out. When they
are about to steal all the money from Mary Jane and here sisters (who Huck as grown to
like), Huck makes a shocking decision that does not go along with what anyone thought
Huck would do and that is turn in the two thieves and causes Huck and Jim not to get any
of the much needed money. In this case it shows Huck has the side to be a Hero and
prevents someone from loosing something that is important to them.
As times change the role of the anti-hero changes also. While the frontier was
beginning to narrow and it was becoming harder to reach one’s American Ideal there was
now people that were rebelling and choosing not to conform to societies standards by
different ways than just running away from home. One example is Lucas Jackson, the
main character of the film Cool Hand Luke. Luke is an anti-hero that gets sent to a
correctional prison for cutting the tops off parking meters. No one knows why he did it,
the most logical reason would be that he thinks the meters are stupid or serve no purpose
but to take your money. When Luke gets to the prison right away he shows signs of
disagreement. He even fights one of the toughest prisoners just to prove a point and he
didn’t quit until he proved his point to his opponent, as a result of the fight he proved that
the fight was pointless. After the fight all the inmates respected him and his decisions.
After seeing his dying mother he starts to “get rabbit in him” and repeatedly runs away, he
does this twice before the “bosses” crack down on his behavior and make his life hell. It is
now the bosses job to break him. As a result of the abuse he tells them he will conform.
Everything is going great and then when the bosses least expected it he took off again in
the truck. This time all the other inmates are cheering for him because he has stood up for
all the other inmates and showed the system up. When they catch him he does the
ultimate sacrifice for everyone and that is his life, he simply states the bosses quote “What
we have here is a failure to communicate” and gets shot and dies. He may have not done
anything superhero spectacular but he beat the system and made an example of hope out
of himself for the other inmates.
Even with times changing either being the 70’s with Cool Hand Luke or 100 year
earlier being Huck Finn, all the concepts are the same. As when Luke ran away for the
first time to prove his point of freedom, as did Huck for the nearly the same reason. Huck
didn’t want to conform to the ways the widow wanted him to dress, so he ran away to
prove a point about his freedom. One thing about anti-heroes is that their motives are
different and are for different things like their ideals. Where Huck had an ideal in mind of
getting freedom where he can do whatever he wants and not worry about his abusive dad,
so he and Jim go down the river for the freedom of both of them. As where when Luke
ran away he wasn’t trying to get away to an Ideal he had in his mind, but to prove a point
to the bosses and give the other prisoners a glimpse of hope that the system is always
perfect.
Although the names of the anti-hero and superhero may sound alike they are
totally different. One just needs to look at the history behind the anti-hero to see that it
was just not made up by Hollywood to portray a character with the ability to fly. Instead
the anti-hero was a result of the ever changing frontier and the flaws that come along with
it. It can stand for many different things and one can be classified a anti-hero for many
different reasons. The most logical way one can tell them apart is if one is rebelling for a
cause it is a anti-hero and if one is given inhuman like powers by Hollywood or does
something spectacular or out of the ordinary it is then called a superhero. So don’t let a
name fool you there are many good that has came about in the United States from the so
called rebel an anti-hero.