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Terry Malloy: The Byronic Hero

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The character Terry Malloy from On the Waterfront has the potential to fit into multiple heroic archetypes, including the tough proletarian hero, the antihero, and the Byronic hero. However, he best fits into the category of the Byronic hero because he does not meet all of the standards of the others. Malloy shares many traits with the proletarian hero, such as aggression, womanizing, and mistrust of police and other law officials, however he lacks several key aspects to the character model. For example, he is not a wanderer trying to escape from the useless labor and ridiculous societal expectations. He is a well-founded member in the dockworkers’ community. He is also poor and is trying to earn a living doing menial labor, whereas the proletarian hero is usually regarded as an unemployed hobo or tramp. Like an antihero, Malloy is disagreeable and aggressive. However, he overcomes his dishonesty, which is seen when he tells both Edie Doyle and Father Barry about his involvement in Joey Doyle’s death. Furthermore, he has nothing to gain by telling either of them the truth; in fact, he only stands to lose his budding romance with Edie. He also acts morally a second time by testifying against Friendly instead …show more content…

He is superior to other men, has heroic virtues, shows great capacity for emotion, and is rebellious. Malloy’s above strength and talent as a pugilist puts him above the other dockworkers, and he certainly presents pride, which is the greatest of a hero’s virtues according to Aristotle. The depth of guilt Malloy displays over Joey Doyle’s murder and the grief he displays over his brother Charley’s murder illustrate his sensibility. Lastly, Malloy’s Satanic rebellion is his decision to testify against Friendly rather than continue the deaf and dumb policy; by speaking up, he rebels against Friendly’s authority, breaks the social norms of the community, and creates chaos among the established

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