A literary hero is a fictional character who is considered to have great strength and courage.
What makes a true heroic figure in literature?
A literary hero is often used to describe the protagonist of the story. A protagonist is the main character in a piece of literature. The plot revolves around them and the viewer is intended to empathize with them.
A literary hero stands out in history, overcomes personal obstacles and always reaches his goal.
A literary hero can also be the anti-hero of the story. If the literary hero is the anti-hero in a story, then he must face difficulties, overcome them, and find a way to take control of his life. Normally, once an anti-hero manages to take control of his life, he becomes stronger than the antagonists who were holding them down.
There are two books, in my opinion, that contain the greatest literary heroes of all time. Both books are deeply complicated and very intricate and possess multiple characters that could be labeled as protagonists, but these two stand out the most, well, at least for me. Neither of these books is for the casual reader and both are quite long. If you decide to give them a try, it’s best to mark some time on your calendar for the next week or two.
The first book (and my favourite) is “Atlas Shrugged” by the gloriously and wonderfully talented (let’s not forget much criticized) Ayn Rand. The main protagonist of the story is a woman named Dagny Taggart and the story is based on her and a man named John Galt.
The second book is “East of Eden” by John Steinbeck in which the protagonist is a man named Cal Trask.
If you are a person who has not yet found their literary heroes, I suggest you give these two books a try.
A literary hero moves you in many ways, and hopefully to the very core of you. When you find a character that makes you feel like you are a part of them, a character that makes you laugh out loud as you read, a character that makes you cry because you fully share their pain and loss, when you find a character that you feel like you would die for that, well my friend, is a feeling you never lose no matter how long it has been since you last spent quality time with them.
A true iconic literary hero takes over your soul and never, ever leaves.
