Antihero

4 Pages 946 Words

Newton’s fundamental theory described by action and reaction can be directly paralleled in literature by the statement: for every hero, there is an equal and opposite anti-hero. An anti-hero can be seen as a protagonist lacking many of the attributes traditionally given to a hero such as honor, bravery, courage, modesty and intelligence to name a few. Anti-heroes typically distrust conventional values and are unable to commit themselves to any ideals. They generally feel helpless in a world over which they have no control and usually accept, and often celebrate, their positions as social outcasts. According to Sean O’Faolin, the antihero is an ordinary unglorious citizen of the modern world, usually drawn as someone “groping, puzzled, cross, mocking frustrated, and isolated.”(anthology.p93) For instance, Carver’s “Cathedral” and in John Updike’s “A&P” both go into very descriptive character assessments that classify the two main actors as anti-heroic, although in Updike’s story the isolation is implied and much more indistinct than Carver’s short story in which the frustrations and ignorance produced are easily understood allowing for readers to make quick judgments about the main character.
Specifically in “Cathedral,” the narrator’s ignorance of the blind comes from social generalizations best understood when he says, “My idea of blindness came from movies, the blind move slowly and never laugh”(110). This allows the reader to instantly form an opinion of the narrator blatantly documenting his ignorance. Another major character flaw that constructs the narrator into an anti-hero is his sense of jealousy. It is apparent that he makes certain prejudices and has a feeling of resentment to the blind man solely based on the fact that Robert had an intimate relationship with his wife. When his wife offered the narrator to listen to the tapes of her with Robert, the narrator was plainly disinter...