Neverwhere Characteristics

At first glance, the protagonist of Neil Gaiman’s Neverwhere is hardly hero material. When you think of heroes, you probably think of Odysseus and Robin Hood—not Richard Mayhew, an ordinary man living a boring life in London. He isn’t exceptionally smart, he isn’t very brave, and he has no ambition whatsoever. Richard, at the beginning of the novel, isn’t truly living: he’s existing. Everything changes for him when he meets Door, an injured girl. A new, fantastic world is introduced to the Scotsman—one with inscrutable dangers as well as wonders. Those who live in the world of London Below aren’t like Richard: they made themselves (or were made by forces out of their control) extraordinary. Likewise, Richard is pushed into precarious situations
Is he capable of being one? He doesn’t have the normal characteristics heroes possess: he isn’t brave, he isn’t clever, and he doesn’t have some remarkable quality that helps him wherever he goes. At the beginning of the novel, an old woman reads Richard’s fortune and gives him some advice. “You’ve a good heart,” she tells him. “Sometimes that’s enough to see you safe wherever you go. But mostly, it’s not.” Along with his less-redeeming qualities, Richard’s kindness is evident throughout the novel: he saves Door without knowing who she was or the details of her situation, he continuously dwells on the death of the girl Anaesthesia, and he gives money to beggars whenever he can. Richard’s good heart leads him into quite a bit of trouble: he’s torn out of his own world and thrust into London Below, he’s plagued with a guilty conscious after Anaesthesia’s death, and he’s nearly killed multiple times. Really, the only benefit to having a good heart in Richard’s case is that people will constantly compliment you on it—and while that’s nice, it isn’t very helpful in the long run. But, even then, how does having a good heart make you a hero when you’ve got nothing else to bring to the