Antihero
Each book in The Essential Literary Themes collection consists of four essays that explore a particular theme as it manifests in four distinct (very different) literary works. The antihero is a principal element of realism. It is beyond a morally ambiguous protagonist; it is a distorted image of a hero —an inverted image that stirs dreadful pity in readers' hearts.
The most realistic example of an anti-hero presented in this Essential Themes book is the main character of Native Man. The book was written before the civil rights movement, but it succeeds in painting a picture of the pressure on disadvantaged youths. The novel as a whole is a commentary on the fact that, although black gangsters are guilty of their crimes, so are white aristocrats. Oppression breeds a sense of powerlessness, so the subjects revel in any capability they have, even murderous ones. The main character of the novel, Bigger, exemplifies an antihero because he demonstrates the principle of a forged moral code. It is natural to cling to your own perception of reality, however flawed. Only in the end does Bigger realize that the white’s actually believe the lies, and the fact that their perspective is not that of malevolence makes him want to be alive for the first time. Unfortunately, that was when he was sentenced to death. The tragic ending, in which he values his life only in the face of death, and the revelation of how Bigger’s cruelty was forged, define his literary legacy as that of an anti-hero. In the eyes of the reader, his perspective cannot be dismissed as utterly false.
The next example of the anti-hero is The Underground Man. This novel establishes the recurring theme that many antiheroes serve as cultural criticism. In this case, it speaks against Marxian ideas, as the main character, who gives no real name and instead calls himself The Underground Man, is a socialist intellectual who has become a recluse. The first act is a long internal discussion in which he lays out many of the ideals of Marxism, leading readers to believe they are reading a work by a proponent of the movement. But the second act recalls what happened when the Underground Man tried to express those ideals. First, he wanted to be physically equal to a soldier, or at least even the playing field with such a powerful man. But ultimately, he fails to even leave a mark on the soldier's memory. He then meets up with his high school friends. All of them are praising one of their number who is economically. In order to save face (As he himself is very poor) states that money has no value, with friendship and truth being the only things of substance. However, they see these words as hypocritical, as the Underground Man is an introvert who clearly does not seek out relationships. The final act of the story revolves around him finding a prostitute and trying to convince her to stop being immoral. But she states that her family sold her and that she needs the job to survive. To show that he is more than just a speaker of ideals, he tries to help her. But when she comes to his house, he yells at his servant and is so humiliated by it that he strikes the prostitute. Ultimately, he becomes a complete social recluse and sheds his name, stating that only men of low mental capacity can achieve anything because they are willing to compromise their ideals. This satirical caricature of socialist intellectuals is realistic. Instead of portraying them as inhumane and villainous, he casts them as anti-heroes with good intentions but impractical ideas.
Wuthering Heights. This novel tells of a man with a harsh exterior at first glance, but he is revealed to have a heart twisted by heartache. As a mistreated orphan boy, we are led to empathize with this man from the beginning of the flashback. When his true love drifts away because of his lack of funds, he leaves his adopted parents' mansion, Wuthering Heights, but he cannot let go of the lost opportunity. After becoming a successful businessman, we, the readers, are initially tricked into thinking this is a normal gothic romance, but we quickly learn that the pain of the past cannot be overcome. He commits many horrible deeds in the pursuit of taking his lady away from her husband, including rape, murder, and beating. But he is still an antihero because, upon learning of the black heart she once belonged to, she dies. Heathcliff is then forced to reconcile with his deeds now that they are revealed to be pointless. He has been remorseful for many years, working to rebuild the empathy we once had with him. As a result of the human condition, we have all experienced the guilt and shame that come with facing a sin, even if not to the same degree as Heathcliff, and can sympathize with him to some extent. Heathcliff is the author’s way of subverting the gothic genre, with its unhappy ending and the presence of a complex antihero, which heralds later works in the genre like The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.
Whether a political statement or terrifying symbol, the anti-hero is impossible to ignore, twisting minds since the earliest echoes of villainy. Fiction imitates life, and in dissecting that mimicry, we commit ourselves to understanding the human condition.