“A hero is an ordinary individual who finds the strength to persevere and endure in spite of overwhelming obstacles.” - Christopher Reeve (Reeve, 1999). The protagonists in both stories, A man for all seasons and Catcher in the rye, have some qualities that make them a hero, not necessarily the same type of hero, but nevertheless a hero. Holden Caulfield can be seen as an anti-hero and Thomas More can be seen as an existential hero. In this essay, the following will be discussed, the characteristics of an anti-hero, why Holden can be classified as an anti-hero, the characteristics of an existential hero and why Thomas More can be classified as an existential hero.
According to the definition of an anti-hero, the anti-hero is a central character in a story, film, or drama who lacks conventional heroic attributes. (Murray et al., 1961). Many anti-heroes have troubling circumstances that have resulted in their current state of being and go through psychological and spiritual conflicts within themselves, which have an impact on the decisions that they make. (Warner, 2008) The anti-hero is often a reluctant rescuer - the one that we follow and adore if only because of his own imperfections and essentially flawed human nature. He or she is someone who resembles ourselves, reminding us not only of the ambiguous morality of reality but also the possibility of liberating change and otherworldliness. Some of the characteristics of the anti-hero include, that they are not role models,