human ability. Nietzsche, a 19th-century German
philosopher, wrote in Thus Spoke Zarathustra (1883)
that in the modern world, God, or the concept of
God, had ceased to give life meaning. This void, he
wrote, could be filled by the übermensch, a superior,
transcendent human being who would give new
meaning to life. All could seek to reach this status,
thus creating a world in which all were motivated
by a love of the present world and the present time.
The Scottish historian Thomas Carlyle, writing
in 1840, would agree that the heroism must be life-
affirming, although he would not agree that religion
had ceased to give life meaning. In fact, in On Heroes,
Hero-Worship, and the Heroic in History, he wrote
that “all religions stand upon” the worship of heroes,
and that Jesus Christ could be considered the “great-
est of all heroes” (249). Carlyle goes on to set up
criteria for what makes a hero or a heroic action: He
says a hero must conquer fear, otherwise he is acting
as but a “slave and coward” (268). Further, he must
be earnest and sincere and have a vision that pen-
etrates beyond what the average eye might see (281,
325). Finally, he must be an inspiration to others,
someone who can “light the way” (347). As Carlyle
was one of the first to write on the subject seriously,
many of his criteria have lasted and are reinforced
by theorists of the present day. Joseph Campbell,
who has written some of the best-known works
on mythology and heroism, echoes Carlyle when
he says: “The hero, therefore, is the man or woman
who has been able to battle past his [or her] personal
and local limitations to the generally valid, normally
human forms” (30). In other words, heroes begin life
as normal people, but through some extraordinary
gift, they are able to begin on and succeed at the
journey upon which they will prove their heroism.
Carlyle and Campbell both stress that human beings
need heroes—that our response to them satisfies
a basic human impulse. We need, apparently, the
inspiration and motivation derived from believing
there are heroes in the world to whose example we
may aspire.
The psychologist Miriam F. Polster, writing
in 1992 about female heroes, compiled a roster of
qualities culled from qualities ascribed to heroes over
time. Recalling Nietzsche’s übermensch, she notes
that they are “motivated by a profound respect for
human life,” that their vision of what is possible goes
beyond that of others, that they possess great cour-
age, and that they are not motivated by public opin-
ion (22). She cites as one of her examples Antigone,
from Sophocles’ play antiGone, who at great per-
sonal risk to herself buries the body of her brother
Polynices against the wishes of her uncle, the king.
Antigone is a hero here because her driving motiva-
tion is respect for her brother’s life. She knows she
must honor this life, even in death. Polster goes on
to note that hero and heroism are words that have
long been associated with men because of the popu-
lar focus on physical courage and strength. Indeed,
the word first appeared in Homer’s The iLiad,
when the name was given to all those who had
participated in the Trojan Wars and about whom a
story could be told. But, as Carlyle and Campbell
both stress, possessing great moral courage is just
as rare and should be honored with as much fervor.
For example, in Charlotte Brontë’s Jane eyre,
Jane displays more moral courage than anyone in
the novel, standing by her friend Charlotte Temple,
standing up to her evil Aunt Reed, refusing to marry
St. John Rivers because she is not in love with him,
and returning to the injured Mr. Rochester. Jane’s
efforts are consistently heroic because they affirm
life, they are selfless, and they inspire others to good.
In contrast, Henry Fleming’s actions in Ste-
phen Crane’s The red badGe oF couraGe are
not so consistent. Fleeing his first battle, Fleming
acts only out of fear. However, when he returns to
battle a changed man, Crane seems to suggest that
he is still acting out of fear. He is now motivated by
his desire not to be seen as a coward. Tim O’Brien,
author of the Vietnam War novels GoinG aFter
cacciato and The thinGs they carried, has
asserted that men have killed and died “because
they were afraid not to.” This is exactly the point of
Crane’s treatment of heroism: that it is complicated,
is hard to discern, and can carry with it a great deal
of ambiguity.
Henry Fleming is a soldier, and physical acts of
courage such as those displayed in war have long
been the province of heroism. But what of ordinary
people, those whose daily lives do not place them in
typically “heroic” situation? Can these people exhibit
heroism as well? For example, in John Updike’s48 heroism