anti-hero

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anti-hero,

principal character of a modern literary or dramatic work who lacks the attributes of the traditional protagonist or hero. The anti-hero's lack of courage, honesty, or grace, his weaknesses and confusion, often reflect modern man's ambivalence toward traditional moral and social virtues. Literary characters that can be considered anti-heroes are: Leopold Bloom in James Joyce's novel Ulysses (1922), Willy Loman in Arthur Miller's play Death of a Salesman (1949), the bombardier Yossarian in Joseph Heller's novel Catch-22 (1961), and the protagonists of many of Philip Roth's and Kurt Vonnegut's novels.
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The portrayal of heroes and anti-heroes in the Coen brothers' films work in a similar dialectic or space 'between the notes.' It is natural in contemporary Western culture for both viewers and commentators to focus on the anti-heroes but those characters all require an heroic figure to help define themselves and to provide the narrative momentum.
Homeric heroes in Ethan and Joel Coen's The Hudsucker Proxy (1994), The Big Lebowski (1998) and No Country for Old Men (2007)
He covers the man question, heroes and anti-heroes; reinventing masculine archetypes in the fiction of Ayu Utami; alternative masculinities in generation X film; men, violence, and horror in the films of Rudi Soedjarwo; and scandal, transgression, and the politics of the erotic in the poetry of Binhd Nurrohmat.
Maskulinitas; culture, gender and politics in Indonesia
From early fighters such as George Washington and Rommel to anti-heroes such as Custer, this survey considers how individuals contributed to or changed the course of history through their military choices.
In the Heat of Battle
The plea to readers to recognize the heroic qualities in Greene's anti-heroes, and no less than "a vindication of human nobility" (106) in The Comedians, give this study an old-fashioned feel.
Roston, Murray. Graham Greene's Narrative Strategies: A Study of the Major Novels
The setting is very familiar to long-time readers of comics as Gotham City--the ubiquitous Orwellian cyber-Babylon where costumed anti-heroes tend to hang out.
A graphic look at Scripture
We like the second because we want our anti-heroes to get away.
Inside Man
An all-dayer at the Academy today celebrates the 30th anniversary of punk by calling up all the anti-heroes.
PICK OF THE WEEK: BEST GIG; ACADEMY IN THE UK Today, 2pm onwards Carling Academy, Birmingham 0870 771 2000
Other anti-heroes to make the top ten include Silence of the Lambs killer Dr Hannibal Lecter (Anthony Hopkins) and Jack Carter (Michael Caine) from movie classic Get Carter.
Are you givin' that award to me?
According to the foreword written by Vadge Moore of the Dwarves, "Touring musicians are like sick anti-heroes, and this collection of stories forms an infernal bible for those who don't have the guts to live like we do ...
Zine thing
With Hustle, the blood is flowing all the time,both fake and real,as our anti-heroes carry out some deliciously inventive stings.
Telly: Hustle writer Tony keeps the blood flowing fast; Hustle (BBC1,9pm)
We are definitely back in the 1970s, when the uncertain anti-heroes of Canadian films screwed up and failed to get the girl.
Luck
Fusing the raw energy of punk with the narrative power and grit of hard-edged western rock, it's easy to see why the US critics have been praising these anti-heroes.
Best of the West

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