Is Francis Cassavant a Hero?

Is Francis Cassavant a Hero?
In the novel 'Heroes' it is shown that there is no such thing as a real 'hero', because everyone has a weakness, Cormier uses Larry LaSalle and Francis Cassavant as a way to convey this message. The protagonist, Francis, is portrayed as having both heroic and cowardly personality traits; this forces the reader to consider what makes a real hero.
A hero is someone admired for their courage and nobility, a man in contrast to Francis Cassavant; through various forms we come to the understanding that Francis is not intentionally a hero.
There are many references to Francis, not being a hero. Initially we are given the impression that Francis is a Hero, up until we realise that he is in fact a mockery to being a hero. He was awarded with a Silver Star award, an achievement; like this would mean that Francis had the attributes a hero ought to have. However, as is said by Francis, his intentions for jumping on the grenade which happened to save several people, was an attempt of suicide. ‘I went to war because I wanted to die.’ He went to war as suicide would be a sin and also shameful as there are others sacrificing themselves for others in war. ‘Soldiers were dying with honour on battlefields, how could I die by leaping from a steeple?’
In addition, Arthur Rivier shares similar feelings towards war, explaining how they cannot be heroes as they were not, only scared boys, he talks of others calling them heroes. It is wrong for people to call them heroes, as they did not act like heroes; there was no glamour. ‘We weren’t heroes. We were only there.’ The idea that even Arthur, who wasn’t awarded a silver star realises that they weren’t heroes reinforces the idea of Francis not being a hero.
Cormier uses the significant table tennis match between Larry and Francis to foreshadow Francis’ fakery of being a hero. During this match, Larry fakes the result into making all other children to believe that Francis had won. This is to make all the other children to have self-confidence. However it is ironic how a fake hero has a positive impact on people. Everyone believes that Francis was a hero; however his intentions show that he doesn’t believe he is a hero, as his motives were not heroic.
Francis had said that he always wanted to be a hero like LaSalle, however when realising that being a hero was just to cover up the flaws, he wanted to get rid of the fakery. He feels guilty as he didn’t do anything to stop Nicole from being raped, he realises that him being called a hero doesn’t disguise the fact that him receiving this achievement was through wanting to kill himself. He notices how even though he has been praised as a hero, he still feels as though he is a coward.
Francis is depicted as not a hero as he shows no heroism in his actions, throughout the novel, Francis also himself believes that he is not a hero. This is presented to the reader as Francis being a coward, thus initiating us into believing that it is true. Real heroes are those who do goodness just from the good of their heart. If Francis’ intentions were to save his platoon, the view of him being hero would significantly change as his intention was to save the lives of others.