Characters – WJECHeroes - Characters overview

Heroes has three main characters and an enormous cast of secondary and minor characters.

The book is narrated by Francis Joseph Cassavant, the main protagonist. He moves between his present time, 1945, and various flashbacks from 1939-1942, telling the reader about his life before, during and after the Second World War. He introduces the reader to the two other main characters. One of these is Nicole Renard, whom Francis has loved since he was 12 years old. The other is Larry LaSalle, a man who had a profound effect on both Francis’ and Nicole’s lives.

The secondary characters are often only mentioned once in Francis’ memories from childhood or the war, but it is good to recognise all the names since these will provide you with detail in an essay response.

Francis’ platoon

• Eddie Richards
• Erwin Eisenberg
• Blinky Chambers
• Spooks Reilly
• Jack Smith (died in the war)
• Billy O’Brien (died in the war)
• Henry Johnson (injured in the war)
• Sonny Orlandi

Frenchtown inhabitants

• His Uncle Louis (who took Francis in when he was orphaned – he moved back to Canada while Francis was at war)
• Dennis O’Brien
• Hervey Rochelle
• Eugene Rouleau (the barber)
• Mrs Agneaux (Mrs Belander’s neighbour)
• Mr Tardier (an old man who likes to pinch women on their behinds)
• Vincent LaCroix (a star baseball player when Francis was a child)
• Madame Toussaint
• Mr Boudreau (the church caretaker)
• Mr Molnier (the butcher)
• Mayor Harold Burnham (greets Larry as a hero when he comes home on leave from the war)
• Mrs St Pierre (a cross woman)

Francis’ dead family members

• His mother (died in childbirth when Francis was six)
• His father, Lefty Cassavant (who died when Francis was about 13)
• His baby brother, Raymond (who died aged just five and a half hours)

The Wreck Centre children

• Butch Bartoneau (a schoolyard bully)
• Edna Beauchene (a shy teenager)
• Louis Arabelle (played table tennis with Francis)

Religious characters

• Father Balthazar (the parish priest)
• Mother Margaret (the Sister Superior)
• Sister Martha (a teaching nun)
• Sister Perpetua (a teaching nun)
• Sister Gertrude (a teaching nun)

Others

• Dr Abrams (Francis’ doctor who is also a plastic surgeon)
• Enrico Rucelli (Francis’ friend in the war)
• Norman Rocheleau (a soldier from Frenchtown whom Francis met up with in the war)

Minor characters

• Mrs Belander (Francis’ landlady)
• Arthur Rivier (an ex-soldier like Francis)
• George Richelieu (a soldier who lost an arm in the war)
• Sister Mathilde (a teaching nun)
• Marie LaCroix (Nicole Renard’s best friend)
• Joey LeBlanc (a soldier-friend of Francis who died in the war)
• Big Boy Burgeron (an ex-soldier)
• Armand Tellier (an ex-soldier)
• Joe LaFontaine (an ex-soldier)
• The old Strangler (bartender at the St Jude’s Club)