Following Morell’s definition of an anti-hero, or more precisely, of an unlikeable protagonist, we learn the benefits of using unlikely leads in our stories to make them more interesting, complex, unpredictable, and insightful (32). She explains how there is a ‘fine line’ in balancing traits that must be kept in order to make the reader feel captivated by the characters. Too much likeability, and the antihero becomes a hero. Too many negative traits, and they become too unlikeable to even relate to (43). Despite of this, there is an abundant number of combinations in character creation for unlikeable protagonists, since the traits we give them can be picked from two sets that are normally exclusive to villains and heroes, respectively. One of the most popular combos is of an antihero whose sense of duty guides all his or her actions. However, what is more interesting is seeing them betray (or adopt) this sense of duty. To understand why it works, this paper aims to explain the often misinterpreted definition of ‘a sense of duty’, and uses two ‘unlikeable’ protagonists as examples as they cycle in their use of moral duty throughout their respective stories: Dan Dunne, from the film Half Nelson, and Helen Farraley from Heathcock’s work Volt.
Fist things first, it must be understood that ‘a sense of duty’ is not a motivation to do righteousness:
“It is very tempting to think that if one does something, and has a certain reason for acting so, then that reason is his motive… There is a further tendency to suppose that motives are much like desires. It would then seem that acting from a sense of duty is simply a matter of pampering one highly special interest or desire rather than others… [But] the sense of duty is not and cannot be ...
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... unpredictable, keeping the story fresh and insightful as we explored the inner thoughts of these two complicated characters. This volatility is encountered in most humans, since we are by nature inclined to be the judges of what is happening around us. It is not surprising, then, that Helen and Dan, two characters whose professions demand a sense of duty, allowed their emotions and circumstances interfere with was meant to be the right thing to do.
Works Cited
Half Nelson. Dir. Ryan Fleck. Perf. Ryan Gosling, Anthony Mackie, Shareeka Epps. THINKFilm, 2006. DVD.
Heathcock, Alan. Volt. Minneapolis: Graywolf Press, 2011. Print.
Morell, Jessica Page. Bullies, Bastards & Bitches. Cincinnati: Writer’s Digest Books, 2008. Print.
Shwayder, D.S. "The Sense of Duty." Philosophical Quarterly. 7.27 (1957): 116-125. Web. 15 Mar. 2014. .
At what point do the qualities of an antihero become heroic? Joseph Heller’s Catch-22 follows the experiences of protagonist and noted antihero Captain John Yossarian, a bombardier of the 256th Squadron of the Air Force stationed on the island of Pianosa during World War II. Frequently opposed by the immoralities and illogic of war and military bureaucracy and haunted by the deaths of men in his squadron, Yossarian is overcome by the paranoia that “they‘re trying to kill [him]” (26), and constantly avoids his militant duties in effort to stay alive. Due to his seemingly foremost concern of self-preservation, avoidance of responsibilities and cowardice, Yossarian is commonly perceived as an antihero. However, the goodness of his character is revealed through his moral consideration of others, the way his fellow men admire him, and his reactions to the corruption he discovers in the military system. Thus, although Yossarian does not possess the typical characteristics of a traditional hero, his inherent concern for the well-being of others and defiant acts ultimately prove his heroism.
Mcnaughton, David. "An Unconnected Heap of Duties?" The Philosophical Quarterly 46: 433-447. Obtained from PHIL 250 B1, Winter Term 2014 Further Readings – Ethics. University of Alberta eClass.
In many works of Literature, a character comes forth as a hero, only to die because of a character trait known as a tragic flaw; Hamlet from Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Okonkwo from Achebe’s Things Fall Apart, and Winston Smith from Orwell’s 1984 all exhibit that single trait, which leads, in one way or another, to their deaths. These three tragic heroes are both similar and different in many ways: the way they die, their tragic flaws, and what they learn. All three characters strongly exhibit the traits needed to be classified as a tragic hero.
The objection says that Singer’s analyses of moral duty conflicts with society’s current outlook on charity, which views it as not an obligation but a personal choice, where those who choose to give are praised for their philanthropy but those who choose not to give are not condemned (236). Singer retorts this objection by saying that we as a society need to essentially change our perspective of charity (236). What Singer means by this is that we need to drastically revise our ideas of what a moral duty is because, in agreement with Singer’s premise that we are morally obligated to help those who are suffering if it is within our power to do so without causing something equally as bad as the suffering to happen (231), charity should be considered as our moral responsibility and a mandatory duty for society
Thompson, Don. "The Characteristics of an "Archetypal" Tragic Hero." Pepperdine University, n.d. Web. 7 May 2014.
Everyone remembers the nasty villains that terrorize the happy people in fairy tales. Indeed, many of these fairy tales are defined by their clearly defined good and bad archetypes, using clichéd physical stereotypes. What is noteworthy is that these fairy tales are predominately either old themselves or based on stories of antiquity. Modern stories and epics do not offer these clear definitions; they force the reader to continually redefine the definitions of morality to the hero that is not fully good and the villain that is not so despicable. From Dante’s Inferno, through the winding mental visions in Shakespeare’s Hamlet, spiraling through the labyrinth in Kafka’s The Trial, and culminating in Joyce’s abstract realization of morality in “The Dead,” authors grapple with this development. In the literary progression to the modern world, the increasing abstraction of evil from its classic archetype to a foreign, supernatural entity without bounds or cure is strongly suggestive of the pugnacious assault on individualism in the face of literature’s dualistic, thematically oligopolistic heritage.
In Flannery O’Connor’s stories, “Good Country People”, “Everything that Rises Must Converge”, ”A Good Man is Hard to Find”, and “The Life You Save May Be Your Own”, there are many similar characters and situations. Few, if any of the characters are likeable, and most of them are grotesque. Two of the stories have characters that view themselves as superior in one way or another to those around them, and in some cases these characters experience a downfall, illustrating the old proverb, “Pride goeth before a fall” (King James Bible ,Proverbs 16:18). Two of the stories include a character that has some type of disability, three of the stories showcase a very turbulent relationship between a parent and child, and three of the stories contain a character that could easily be described as evil.
In most works of literature there is an “evil” character that has conflicting interests with the protagonist. This issue may arise in multiple forms including, but not limited to, abuse and manipulation. In this paper we will be discussing the similarities and differences between Shakespeare’s character Iago from Othello and J.K. Rowling’s character Voldemort from the Harry Potter series.
Stocker highlights the constraints that motives impose on both ethical theory and the ethical life in order to show that only when justifications and motives are in harmony can people lead the good life. Stocker believes that mainstream ethical theories, like consequentialism and deontology, make it impossible for people to reconcile their reasons and motives because these theories demand that people perform acts for the sake of duty or for the good, as opposed to because they care about the people who are affected by their actions.
of the theory even say that it is one's moral duty to act on these
“The traditional professing of duty states an intention to serve the community rather than merely to seek income.” (Macionis, Page 384)
Through his discussion of morals in the Grounding for the Metaphysics of Morals, Immanuel Kant explores the question of whether a human being is capable of acting solely out of pure duty and if our actions hold true moral value. In passage 407, page 19, Kant proposes that if one were to look at past experiences, one cannot be certain that his or her rationalization for performing an action that conforms with duty could rest solely on moral grounds. In order to fully explain the core principle of moral theory, Kant distinguishes between key notions such as a priori and a posteriori, and hypothetical imperative vs. categorical imperative, in order to argue whether the actions of rational beings are actually moral or if they are only moral because of one’s hidden inclinations.
Kant is a German philosopher who speaks heavily about the importance of individual duty and autonomy of the will within his work, The Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals. Within the text, Kant guides his readers to live a life of meaning and quality rather than one of little substance and insignificance. His approach to life and how one makes decisions is that of a sound person, who believes and understands that in the end you cannot please everyone, and that as long as you are doing your very best to fulfill your duty you are living a life that has worth and meaning; even if in the end the results are not what you had planned or expected. Unlike Bentham and Mill, Kant teaches his readers that expressing good will and preforming one’s moral duties are the most important factors in leading a happy life, because it produces well-rounded members of society who care about others as well as
For a time, the main characters in a story, poem, or narrative were easily classified as either being a hero or a villain. A hero would be easy to identify by the traits he'd possess, such as bravery, honesty, selflessness, trustworthiness, courage, leadership, and more. The villain would be easy to identify as well, possessing traits such as maliciousness, deceitfulness, immorality, dark, wishing harm upon others, and more. But what if the character lacked the natural heroic qualities but wasn't a villain either? What if the person displayed personality flaws that would traditionally be associated with a villain, but has heroic intentions? These questions were finally answered with the emergence of the anti-hero in literature.
based on duty. To act morally is to do one’s duty, and one’s duty is