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Alvin York Character Analysis

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While both Alvin York and Chris Kyle display traits specific to romance, it is important to clarify the definition of the genre. Romance, as discussed in the PowerPoint, is defined by being relatively unrealistic, not adhering to the portrayal of daily life, as well as not confining to the rules of realism. This type of romance has nothing to do with a love story, contradictory to what society believes. In both films, however, the main characters do find love interests. The characters of a romance also feature abilities that normal, everyday people would not possess. The ending of a work in the genre of romance does not have to be happy, but the characters need to be metaphorically larger and more capable than a normal person would be (Decker). American Sniper and Sergeant York are similar as they both have main characters with many defining marks of the romance genre and show true American heroes and society's views on what a warrior should act like. Sergeant Alvin York is classified as a romance character for many different reasons, one of them being his strong religious beliefs. “York had been ‘saved’ by a personal experience with Jesus Christ” (Lee …show more content…

This is the defining characteristic that allows them to fit into the romance genre, and it is also the reason both are so well known to this day. Lee states, about Sergeant Alvin York, “Raised with guns, he always took good care of them...and soon declared he and his weapon were ‘good friends’” (18). According to the movie Sergeant York as well as The New American, Alvin York’s commanding officer was killed by Germans, leaving York in charge. He took aim, and with his shot, took out twenty-eight German soldiers. They eventually surrendered, but killing twenty-eight men singlehandedly is not something that is heard about every day. Chris Kyle also had a shot that would be glorified. “The Navy credits me with more kills as a sniper than any

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