Themes – WJECGuilt and forgiveness

The theme of forgiveness is extremely important in Heroes. Forgiveness naturally follows on from sin – a wrong done to a person by somebody else. Cormier explores the meaning of sin in the novel, and how it leads to guilt.

The novel is set in Frenchtown, a mainly Catholic town where most people attend church and would go to confession regularly. There is really only one sin which is committed and that is the rape of Nicole Renard by Larry LaSalle. However, Larry does not acknowledge that he has done anything wrong, and instead Francis takes on the burden of guilt.

Although Francis knows that he is not guilty of raping Nicole, he does feel that he is guilty of the sin of omission. This means that he fails, or omits, to do anything to help Nicole while the rape is taking place. He stands outside in the hallway and listens to the sounds coming from the room. He is not sure what is happening, nor is he sure whether Nicole actually wants to be left alone with Larry. He fails to interpret correctly Nicole’s request to Francis that he should not leave her, and he agonises over what he should do.

For many years after the event he carries the weight of his failure to act. The duffel bag which he takes everywhere with him comes to represent his burden of guilt. It contains his gun. This, of course, reminds us that there are two other potential sins of which Francis is guilty and those are his intention to kill Larry LaSalle and his intention to kill himself.

Nicole initially blames Francis for not stopping Larry from assaulting her, but years later, instead of forgiving him, she apologises to Francis for accusing him of something which he was powerless to prevent. Larry never apologises for what he did, in fact he implies to Francis that he has done the same thing to other girls too. He takes the guilt from Francis, though, by saying that Francis could not have stopped Larry as Francis was just a child. Francis eventually forgives himself, which makes this novel a story of redemption.

How are the themes of guilt and forgiveness explored in Heroes?

In Heroes, Cormier examines the themes of guilt and forgiveness by:

• showing how Larry behaves
• showing how Francis behaves
• showing how Nicole behaves

How Larry behaves

How does Cormier show this?

Larry LaSalle gains the trust of the young people of Frenchtown. He fully intends to take advantage of this trust.

Evidence

He was our champion and we were happy to be in his presence.

Just as he had lured awkward girls into ballet classes...

[Larry] applauded [Nicole], his eyes looking deeply into hers, as she lay at his feet.

He could win it so easily and so humiliatingly that the crowd – Nicole – would know instantly that he had been toying with me all along.

You didn’t do anything you should feel guilty about... You couldn’t have stopped me, anyway, Francis.

Everybody sins, Francis. The terrible thing is that we love our sins.

Does that one sin of mine wipe away all the good things?

Analysis

The children, and in fact the adults, choose to ignore any rumours about Larry. They all adore him and he uses this to gain the trust of the young girls.

The word lured indicates that there is something dangerous about Larry.

He takes advantage of Nicole’s romantic nature, posing almost as a lover, to make her feel admired and attractive.

Ironically, Francis works out that Larry has the power to make Francis do what he, Larry, wants, but Francis cannot see that this is exactly what Larry does with Nicole – he is merely toying with her.

Larry takes the guilt away from Francis with these words. Although Larry is a sinner, he almost plays the part of a priest here, forgiving Francis.

Larry admits to raping Nicole at the end, but he does apologise for it. He seems to regard it as a minor matter, and one that is cancelled out by his good deeds.