Heroes - Key Quotations

Heroes – Robert Cormier

Key Quotations

Chapter 1 – page 1
“My name is Francis Joseph Cassavant
and I have just returned to Frenchtown
in Monument and the war is over and I
have no face.”
 Establishes the setting

 Introduces narrator in first person

 Surprising statement creates mystery

“Oh, I have eyes… but no ears to speak
of, just bits of dangling flesh. But that’s
fine, like Dr Abrams says… He was
joking, of course.”
 Conversational style of address

 Creates a close bond between the

reader and the narrator

Description of Francis’s physical injuries.
 Described in a matter-of-fact way

 Creates sympathy in the reader – but

does Francis expect this?
 Makes the reader want to know why he

looks like this

“But not having much success” and “I
don’t blame them”
 Francis has low self-esteem and lacks

confidence
 Presented as single-sentence

paragraphs to draw attention to them

“This was proof that the scarf and the
bandage were working in two ways: not
only to hide the ugliness of what used
to be my face, but to hide my identity.”
 Why is Francis trying to hide?

 Creates mystery

 Francis believes he is ugly

“I thought of Nicole Renard, realizing I
had not thought of her for, oh, maybe
two hours.”
 First mention of Nicole

 Suggests Francis may be in love with

her
 Makes the reader ask questions

“She had always been generous when I
did her errands and her tips paid for my
ten-cent movie tickets at the Plymouth
on Saturday afternoons.”
 Francis knows Mrs Belander from before

the war
 In a first reading, the Plymouth seems

unimportant

“At that moment, I knew that I was really
anonymous, that I wasn’t Francis
Joseph Cassavant anymore but a tenant
in Frenchtown.”
 Why does Francis want to be

anonymous?
 Contrasts with the opening sentence

“I was home again in Frenchtown. I
thought of the gun hidden away in my
duffel bag and knew that my mission
was about to begin.”
 What is Francis’s mission?

 Why does he have a gun?

 Creates mystery and suspense

Francis briefly mentions his dead father
and mother, and younger brother.
 This is one of the few times they are

mentioned in the novel
 Why doesn’t Francis talk about them

more often?
 He wants to forget the past

“Then I am filled with guilt and shame,
knowing that I just prayed for the man
I am going to kill.”
 Francis frequently feels guilt and shame

 This section emphasises his religious

feelings
 Statement creates dramatic tension

“‘You’re a big hero,’ he said. ‘A Silver Star
hero.’”
 This is the first reference to being a

hero in the novel
 The reader wonders why Francis has

been awarded the Silver Star

“I am not a hero, of course, and I turn
away in disgust.”
 Francis has low self-esteem

 Why doesn’t he believe he is a hero?

 Why does he say “of course”?

 “And even though I am home from the
war, I wonder if I will ever see her
again.”
 The chapter ends on a cliff-hanger
 Where is Nicole?
 What happened to her?

“The most beautiful girl I had ever seen…
The pale purity of her face reminded
me of the statue of St Therese… I
silently pledged her my love and loyalty
forever.”
 Francis’s first description of Nicole

shows how he reveres her
 Over-exaggeration

“Was the look that passed between us
that first day a wish of my
imagination?”
 Emphasises Francis’s lack of self-esteem

 Is this typical teenage angst?

“I never knew love could be so
agonising.”
 This is ironic

 For Francis, his love for Nicole does

become agony

“I wondered whether she’d been waving
at Joey LeBlanc or me.”
 Again, Francis lacks the confidence to

believe that Nicole could be attracted to
him
 Is he trying to make us feel sorry for

him?

“I feel like a spy in disguise as I walk the
streets of Frenchtown.”
 This is a simile

 It is an effective image to begin this

chapter with as it reminds us of
Francis’s mission

“The Great Gatsby which I’d heard was a great
novel… We drank vin rouge like the heroes in
a Hemingway novel.”
 Francis refers to classic American Literature

 This is the first mention of his interest in

reading and writing
 Suggests an autobiographical link with

Cormier

 “All kinds of rumours about her Francis.
She began to stay at home… She was
like… a hermit.”
 Adds to the mystery of Nicole Renard
 Shows that Francis did end up going-
out with Nicole but that something must
have gone wrong

Francis explains that he joined the army
at fifteen.
 This makes the reader ask lots of

questions e.g.
 Why did he enlist?
 Why wasn’t he missed?
 How did he feel about this?

“I can keep going on a minimum of food
because I lost my appetite somewhere
in France and eat now only to sustain
myself for a while.”
 Suggests that Francis has given up

hope
 Doesn’t reveal why he has no appetite

Chapter 3 – pages 18 – 20
Francis dreams about the war in France
 This suggests Cormier’s attitude to war

and what is expected of soldiers.
 It contrasts with the romantic and

heroic descriptions we might expect
 It is a dramatic and horrifying

description

“Not like the war movies at the Plymouth,
nobody displaying heroics or bravado”
 Francis repeats the idea that he wasn’t

heroic or brave

“I explode into wakefulness… my bursts of
gunfire killed the soldiers quickly, no
exploding head, no body cut in two… I saw
how young they were, boys with apple
cheeks, too young to shave. Like me.”
 Francis explains that his dream is more

graphic than reality
 He creates a link between himself and the

German soldiers

“The next day, the grenade blows my
face away.”
 We finally find out what happened to

Francis, however he never tells us this
part of the story – we only find out
from others later on.
 Made dramatic by being a single-

sentence paragraph in simple language

“Ignore it all, I tell myself, and count your
blessings.”
 Francis is being ironic

 He has no pity for himself

 He is committed to carrying-out his

mission

“I wanted to be like them, these heroes,
fighting the Japs and the Germans,
going off to battles on land and sea.”
 Francis used to have a romantic idea

about war
 Later, he learns that they weren’t

heroes they “were only there” (page
47)

“Big Boy… is now sleek and hard with no
soft edges.”
 The war has transformed Big Boy

physically
 There are many ‘then and now’

comparisons within the novel showing
the effect of war

“I am not the hero he thinks I am, not
like the other veterans here in the St
Jude’s Club”
 Again, Francis says that he is not a hero

 He compares himself with everybody

else for a negative effect
 Francis feels that he doesn’t belong

here

“It’s a bad luck place, people had said.
A place of doom, others added”
 The first description of the Wreck

Centre suggests the tragedy that will
take place there.
 The words are highlighted by being in

single-sentence paragraphs.

“The men worked frantically… but the
work was haphazard.”
 The Rec Centre was part of the ‘New

Deal’ programme during the Depression
 Unemployed people were paid by the

Government to work on projects like
this

“A tall slim man stepped into view, a lock
of blond hair tumbling over his
forehead, a smile that revealed dazzling
movie-star teeth.”
 First description of Larry LaSalle

 Emphasises his good looks

 Francis clearly admires him

“He was most of all a teacher.”
 As a teacher, Larry has a responsibility

to all the children in his care
 Larry is also described as an athlete and

a dancer – everyone in Frenchtown is
impressed by these qualities
 Francis’s language shows his admiration

for Larry

“I had never been a hero in such places,
too short and uncoordinated for
baseball and too timid to join the
gangs.”
 Another reference to being a hero

 Francis focuses on the negative

qualities
 ‘Timid’ suggests he is afraid

“I had no best friend.”
 Other than Nicole and Larry, Francis

never really connects with anyone else
 As a child he is a loner, which

emphasises the tragedy of Nicole’s
rejection and Larry’s betrayal

“I discovered Ernest Hemingway and Tom
Wolfe and Jack London and rushed
home with an armful of books.”
 Francis shows his interest in literature

 These writers are very masculine – their

books are about adventure
 Reading separates Francis from other

people

“Home was now the tenement where I
lived with my Uncle Louis… He took me
in after my father died.”
 This is striking because Francis doesn’t

describe these events
 He chooses to forget memories from

the past that might distract him from
his mission

“He tamed the notorious schoolyard
bully…
‘But he still beats kids up in the
schoolyard,’ Joey LeBlanc observed.”
 Francis recounts Larry’s achievements

but he suggests that they were only
cosmetic (on the surface)

“There were dark hints that he had ‘gotten into
trouble’ in New York City… The air of mystery
that surrounded him added to his glamour.”
 This is the first hint that something is wrong

with Larry in the flashback narrative
 Francis uses the language of celebrity to

characterise Larry’s appeal to the people

“She seemed to exist in a world of her
own, like a rare specimen, bird-like and
graceful, separate from the rest of the
dancers.”
 Francis describes Nicole using a simile

 Again, he suggests that she is unique

 She is separate – just like him

“Joey LeBlanc angered me when he said
he could feel that old doom hanging
over the place.”
 Loops-back to the beginning of the

chapter
 Reinforces the idea that something

terrible is going to happen

“I watch for Larry LaSalle, for that Fred
Astaire strut and the movie-star smile.”
 In the present, Francis’s description of

Larry has become an insult
 He sees him as fake and insincere

“This is the pause between one life and
another.”
 Francis is talking about Arthur, Armand

and Joe, but he could be talking about
himself
 His life has paused since he returned –

he will only move on once his mission is
complete

Francis describes a pause in the
conversation and the war injuries of his
acquaintances
 Everybody seems to be getting on with

their lives, but Francis recognises that
they are still scarred by their injuries
e.g. “there’s a sudden flash of what –
terror? bad dreams?”

“‘You deserve to be recognised, Francis,’
he whispers. ‘You’re a goddam hero…
How many men were you willing to die
for?’”
 Arthur reveals a secret that Francis has

not told us yet – why don’t we know?
 Why is Francis ashamed of his actions?

“He found me sitting alone on the back
steps of the Wreck Centre, looking at
nothing in particular. There was
nothing in my world that was worth
looking at.”
 Emphasises Francis’s isolation

 Follows the death of his father

“Jealousy streaked through me as Larry
LaSalle tossed her in the air… pressing
her close, their faces almost touching,
their lips only an inch or so from a kiss.”
 Already, there is jealousy in the

triangular relationship between Larry,
Francis and Nicole
 Who is Francis jealous of?

“His eyes shone with admiration when I
made an unusual shot.”
 Francis seeks Larry’s admiration

 Table tennis represents the first thing

that Francis has ever enjoyed, apart
from reading

“I’m not supposed to play favourites,
Francis, but you and Nicole are special
to me.”
 Larry makes it clear that there is a

special bond between the three
characters
 He shouldn’t have favourites but he

breaks this ‘rule’

“For the first time in my life, a tide of
confidence swept through me.”
 Nicole has said she likes to watch

Francis play
 Francis highlights this moment by the

use of paragraphs

Chapter 7 – page 40 & 41
“Her words filled me with both delight and
agony, delight at her invitation and the
instant agony of jealousy, the way she had
casually said his name… ‘Larry’, spoken off-
hand as if they were more than teacher and
pupil.”
 Why does Francis feel jealous?

 Is he jealous because Nicole is close to Larry?

 Is he jealous Larry likes Nicole?

“My eyes sought Nicole, found her joyous face,
hands joined together, as if in prayer, eyes
half-closed as if making herself an offering to
me.”
 Francis gains confidence from beating Larry

 Again he describes Nicole using religious

imagery – he makes her into an idol

“I want to talk about it, my war… And
your war, too, Francis. Everybody’s
war. The war nobody wants to talk
about.”
 Arthur Rivier shows that people are

trying to ignore the effects of the war
 They are not addressing their problems

– instead they hide their emotions

Chapter 8 – page 46 & 47
“The scared war… God, but I was scared,
Francis.”
 Arthur remembers the terror he felt

 He describes a war that Francis can

relate to – Francis was also terrified

“No heroes in that scrap-book, Francis. Only
us, the boys of Frenchtown. Scared and
homesick and cramps in the stomach and
vomit. Nothing glamorous like the write-ups
in the papers or the newsreels. We weren’t
heroes. We were only there…”
 This shows Cormier’s attitude to war

 Arthur describes the reality of war in graphic

details

“A thrill went through me – a wartime
secret in Frenchtown! Should we be on
the look-out for spies?”
 As a child, Francis shares the excited

romantic anticipation of the war
 In reality, mainland America was very

secure

“We cheered our fighting forces and
booed and hissed when Hitler came on
the screen, his arm always raised in
that hated salute.”
 The newsreel footage becomes an

entertainment
 Civilians saw the war as dramatic and

exciting

“‘How about writing books? Didn’t you
win Sister Mathilde’s medal for
composition?’
‘Oh, I could never write a book.’
‘I think you could.’
 Similar to Cormier’s own life

 Nicole has confidence in Francis

 This will be returned to at the end

“We were stunned to suddenly see Larry
LaSalle featured in the Movietone News.
He was unshaven, face gaunt and
drawn, eyes sunk deep into their
sockets.”
 Larry is the first ‘victim’ of the war

 The war is having a physical effect on

him

“When I study myself in the mirror, I
don’t see me any more but a stranger
slowly taking shape.”
 The war has changed Francis as a

person
 He is gradually becoming someone new

 This transformation symbolises what

has happened to Francis

“The truth is that I don’t care whether I
heal or not. Because I know that it
doesn’t matter.”
 Francis has lost all hope

 He is not asking the reader for

sympathy – he no longer cares about
himself

“I knew what he meant by disposal
because I had planned my own method
after my mission was completed.”
 Francis implies that after killing Larry he

will kill himself
 He appears to be committed to ending

his own life

 This is the turning point in the novel
 Francis deliberately emphasises Larry’s
heroic qualities in order to show how
evil his actions are at the end of the
chapter
 Dramatic tension is built up throughout
the chapter

“Lt. Lawrence LaSalle… holder of the
Silver Star for acts of heroism… was
coming home on furlough.”
 The introduction to this chapter builds

up anticipation
 Larry’s heroism will contrast with his

actions at the end

“A moment later, Larry LaSalle stood on the
platform, resplendent in the green uniform…
He smiled, the old movie-star smile.”
 Larry is described like the typical movie war

hero
 Movie heroes are only actors, however, and

their performance is a fraud
 Reference to “movie-star smile” reminds us

he is a fake

“Fred Astaire still in his walk but
something different about him. His
slenderness was knife-like now, lethal.”
 The movie-star image is contrasted with

one of violence
 Larry is a killer and Francis implies he is

dangerous

“Larry was our hero, yes, but he had
been a hero to us long before he went
to war.”
 Francis reminds us that Larry is admired

by everyone in Frenchtown
 This helps to reinforce his unforgivable

behaviour towards Nicole later in the
chapter

“His eyes moved to Nicole and I saw the
rush of affection on his face.”
 There is a sexual chemistry between

Nicole and Larry
 Does Francis misinterpret Larry’s

feelings towards Nicole?

“‘I’m glad to be home, even if it’s only for
a little while. And most of all I want to
be with the Wreck Centre gang.’
Once again he made us feel special.”
 There is something suspicious about the

fact that a grown-up wants to spend his
time with children
 Francis is providing clues for the reader

“‘I’ll buy you one like that someday,’ I
whispered in her ear, my voice trembling a
bit, betraying my love for her.
Squeezing my hand, she leaned towards me
and her warm cheek rested against mine.”
 Francis is describing the perfect evening
between them both
 He indicates that he wants to be with her
forever
 This emphasises the tragedy of this chapter

“Once, Nicole whispered: ‘Stay close to me,’ as
we resumed our parade… a thrill went
through me like a jolt as I pulled her close
and said: ‘I’ll never leave you.’
 This is a lie – Francis leaves her at the worst

possible moment
 As Francis is telling the story, he must realise

how ironic this promise is – it helps to build
dramatic tension

Quotations that create dramatic tension:
 “The day had not been long enough for me.”

(61) = doubt
 “His face was flushed and his eyes shone with

excitement.” (62) = sexual tension
 “The words sounded false as I said them and

I realised they were Larry’s words, not mine.”
(62) = Larry is in control of Francis

“I really wanted to stay, wanted to be a
part of them.”
 Reminds us that Francis has never been

intimate with anyone
 Suggests his suspicion that something is

wrong
 Echoed by Nicole, who doesn’t want

him to leave

“I made my way towards the front door but
drew back, didn’t leave, stationed myself in
the small foyer… miserable in my aloneness,
wanting to be dancing with her, the way
Larry LaSalle was dancing with her, holding
her close…”
 “Miserable in my aloneness” – sums up

Francis throughout the novel
 He knows something is wrong but is impotent

to do anything

“I heard a sigh and a sound that could
have been a moan and a rustle of
clothing.”
 This is Francis’s description of the rape

 Did he know what was happening?

 How much does the reader have to

guess about what has happened?
Why?

“How long did I stand there listening?... I
couldn’t breathe, my body rigid, my lungs
burning… What were they doing?”
 Francis’s description suggests he knows what

they were doing
 Rhetorical questions suggest he knows the

answer but still can’t face the truth
 He is terrified of the truth because he has

done nothing and still feels guilty

“But I knew what they were doing – the
thought streaked through my mind so
fast it could hardly be acknowledged.”
 Francis is forced to admit the truth to

the reader
 He confesses to us – is the whole novel

a confession of his sin before he kills
himself?

“I recognised in her eyes what I could not
deny: betrayal. My betrayal of her in
her eyes.”
 Francis feels ashamed because he did

not stop Larry from hurting Nicole
 He believes that she blames him

 Repetition emphasises this

“It’s amazing that the heart makes no
noise when it cracks.”
 The chapter ends with a dramatic

image
 This contrasts with how Francis had

been feeling throughout the chapter

“For three days, I haunted Sixth Street at
all hours.”
 The use of the word ‘haunted’ suggests

that Francis is like a ghost
 Nicole’s feelings for him have died

“A kind of bogey man who does terrible things
like letting his girl get hurt and attacked,
purposely avoiding in my mind that terrible
word: what had actually happened to her.”
 Francis feels guilt and blames himself

 He chooses to ignore that which causes him

most pain – he does this elsewhere in the
book

“I could not sleep at night… glad for the
heat that was so relentless, as if it was
part of the hell that I had earned.”
 Francis blames himself rather than Larry

 He punishes himself, using religious

imagery of suffering and purgatory

“I could only stand there mute, as if all
my sins had been revealed and there
was no forgiveness for them.”
 Francis is using Catholic imagery

 He is punishing himself, taking all the

blame away from Larry
 He then turns to the church for help

“Saying a prayer before committing the
worst sin of all: despair… I thought of
my mother and father – could I
disgrace their name this way?”
 Suicide is absolutely the worst sin that a

Catholic can commit
 Francis is ashamed at the thought of

letting his parents down

“I could not die that way. Soldiers were dying
with honour on battlefields all over the world.
Noble deaths. The deaths of heroes. How
could I die by leaping from a steeple?”
 The theme of heroism returns again

 Is Francis trying to be a hero or is he trying

to die?
 Notice the use of sentence structures for

effect

“I always thought I would spot Larry LaSalle on
Third Street, would see him striding along like
Fred Astaire, bestowing that movie-star smile
on people that he met.”
 Francis reminds us of how fake Larry is by

repeating the movie-star image
 There is no sense of admiration in the way he

says this

“I have heard enough.
Larry LaSalle has returned to
Frenchtown.
And I know where to find him.”
 Use of single-sentence paragraphs

 Use of present tense

 Builds up dramatic tension

“The gun is like a tumour on my thigh.”
 Simile

 Shows that Francis feels what he is

about to do is wrong

“I am calm. My heartbeat is normal. What’s
one more death after the others in the
villages and fields of France? The innocent
faces of the two young Germans appear in
my mind. But Larry LaSalle is not innocent.”
 Suggests Francis has killed more people than

we know about
 Rhetorical question suggests his guilt

“He is pale, eyes sunk into the sockets like in
the newsreel at the Plymouth, and he seems
fragile now, as if caught in an old photograph
that has faded and yellowed with age.”
 Larry has changed physically

 He is like the other war veterans in that the

war has had a major impact on his
appearance
 Does Francis feel pity for him?

“‘Don’t be afraid to show your face,
Francis. That face, what’s left of it, is a
symbol of how brave you were, the
Silver Star you earned…’”
 Larry is still trying to teach Francis

 Is Larry’s physical appearance a symbol

of what he has done?

“A deep sadness settles on me, as if
winter has invaded my bones.”
 Simile

 Winter is a dead time – to what extent

is Francis dead inside?
 He is saddened by remembering the

past and the Wreck Centre

“Why did it have to turn out like this?
Maybe your sins catching up with you.”
 The italics represent Francis’s inner

voice
 They show what he wants to say but

can’t say

“I had always wanted to be a hero, like Larry
LaSalle, but had been a fake all along. And
now I am tired of the deception and have to
rid myself of the fakery.”
 Francis views his actions as a fraud – he is
not really a hero
 This quote shows that he has realised Larry is
a fake
 Francis confesses to Larry that he is not a
hero

“‘I went to war because I wanted to die…
I was too much of a coward to kill
myself. In the war, in a battle, I
figured it would be easy to get killed.”
 Francis’s explanation twists his feelings

into self-accusation – he believes
himself a coward despite everything he
has done

“‘Oh, Francis. You’re too hard on yourself. You
didn’t do anything you should feel guilty
about, that should make you want to die.
You couldn’t have stopped me, anyway,
Francis. You were just a child.’”
 Larry tries to take the blame away from

Francis
 He tries to make him realise it wasn’t his fault

 Does Larry feel guilty?

“‘The sweet young things, Francis. Even
their heat is sweet…’
Sweet young things. Had he done it
before?”
 It is suggested that Larry has done this

before
 Larry sees the girls as treats or gifts –

he tries to excuse his behaviour

“‘Does that one sin of mine wipe away all
the good things?’”
 The most important quote in the novel!

The nature of heroes is the main theme
in the novel
 Cormier leaves it up to the reader to

decide, but clearly the answer is yes
 Francis avoids answering the question

“‘If I want one thing, it would be to have
you look at me again the way you did at
the Wreck Centre. When I was the big
hero you say I was.’”
 Why does Larry care what Francis

thinks?

“‘Let me tell you one thing before you go,
Francis. You would have fallen on that
grenade, anyway. All your instincts would
have made you sacrifice yourself for your
comrades.’
Still trying to make me better than I am.”
 Larry recognises that Francis is a true hero

 Typically Francis rejects this – he has no faith

in himself

“The sound of a pistol shot cracks the air. My
hand is on the doorknob. The sound from
this distance is almost like a ping-pong ball
striking the table.”
 This simile is used in an ironic way – table

tennis made Francis feel special and is
connected to Larry
 Now he calls it ‘ping-pong’ – a game not a

sport not requiring any skill (page 37)

“The sound of the doorbell echoes unendingly
through the long corridors of the convent.
Waiting, I step back and look at the faded
red-brick exterior of the building and the
black forbidding shutters at the windows.”
 Creates mystery – why is Francis here?

 Sense of exclusion – ‘echoes’, ‘forbidding’

 Change of tone from the drama of the

previous chapter

“‘Has she gone away to become a nun?’ I
ask. The possibility dashes my hopes of
ever seeing her again.
 Francis reveals his reasons for being

here
 This is the first time Francis has ever

expressed a sense of hope, but, as
usual, he takes a pessimistic view

“‘I hope your face heals soon, Francis’…
I wonder if it’s a special sin to lie to a
nun.”
 Francis lies about his intentions

 He is obsessed with the idea of sin

“For one lightning moment, I don’t recognise
her… Now her hair is cut short and combed
straight and flat… Her cheek-bones are more
prominent and her eyes seem to be bigger, I
look at her as if studying a painting in a
museum.”
 Nicole has been physically transformed by her

experiences
 Francis still sees her as a work of art

“‘This is nothing… It’s not as bad as it
looks…’ Still lying but not to a nun.”
 Francis differentiates between his lies,

showing his feelings about religion
 He implies that he has thought about

his “proper method of disposal”
(chapter 10)

“‘Did to me?’ What day?
‘I shouldn’t have said those things to
you that day… You weren’t to blame
for what happened’”
 Like Larry, Nicole tells Francis that it

wasn’t his fault
 Does Francis believe her?

“‘Don’t say it, Francis. I know what he
was. For a while there he made me
feel special. Made us all feel special.’”
 Describes Larry’s effect on the children

 Contrasts the public and private life of

Larry

“‘Are you going to write? I always
thought you’d be a writer.’
‘I don’t know.’ Which is the truth, for a
change.”
 Provides a biographical link with the

author
 Provides hope for Francis

“To see if maybe you could still be my
girl. Which would maybe change my
mind about the gun in my duffel bag.”
 This is Francis’s hope – that he and

Nicole could still be together
 How realistic is this hope

 Francis’s inner thoughts shown by the

italics

“‘Who was I going to tell...? He was a big
war hero.’”
 Again, Cormier challenges the idea of

what makes someone a hero

“‘When the doctor fixes up my face, I’ll send you a
picture.’
‘Promise?’
‘Promise,’ I answer, although I know that I will never
keep that promise and she probably doesn’t expect
me to.”
 This is the last of the promises that are broken i.e.

what Francis promises Nicole in chapter 12
 It is another clue that Francis intends to kill himself.

“‘I don’t know what a hero is anymore, Nicole.’
I think of Larry LaSalle and his Silver Star.
And my own Silver Star, for an act of
cowardice.
‘Write about it Francis. Maybe you can find
the answer that way.’”
 The main question of the novel is ‘what is a
hero?’
 Ironically, Francis does write about it – does
the novel provide any answers?

“I remember what I said to Nicole about not
remembering who the real heroes are. I
think of my old platoon… We were only
there… Who were not only there but who
stayed, did not run away, fought the good
war.”
 Francis recalls Arthur’s words

 Cormier considers what was asked of the

young soldiers and suggests Francis really is a
hero

“And didn’t receive a Silver Star. But heroes
anyway. The real heroes.
Maybe if I’m going to write as Nicole hopes I
will, I should write about them.”
 Is the book dedicated to the people Francis

considers real heroes?
 He sees his medal as a fraud – is it because

Larry won one as well as wasn’t a hero?

“Maybe I should…”
 Francis uses conditionals to introduce

his options
 He thinks about what he could do

“I think of the gun inside the duffel bag
at my feet…
The weight is nice and comfortable.”
 The gun gives him comfort

 The ending of the novel is ambiguous –

does he kill himself?

Heroes - Key Quotations

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