Francis Joseph Cassavant is eighteen. He has just returned home from the Second World War, and he has no face. He does have a gun and a mission: to murder his childhood hero. Throughout the past few years, I have grown as a person- and so has my taste of books. I used to adore YA books, with cliché romance plots and heartwarming love stories to more sort of philosophical books, which most of the stories took part in 20th century america.

When he fell onto a live grenade, he was willing to sacrifice his life to save his platoon. But Cormier shatters this illusion by revealing that Francis' act was not truly selfless, but rather a desperate attempt at suicide. The value of wartime heroism is also called into question through Larry's Silver Star medal. Despite being a brave act, it was ultimately motivated by self-preservation. But Cormier doesn't stop there, he also highlights the disturbing contrast between Larry's celebrated violence towards enemies in combat and his reprehensible sexual violence (rape) towards Nicole, and the fact that Nicole is underaged makes this even more despicable. And it has been heavily implied in the book that this wasn’t his first time, either.

As the days pass in Frenchtown, Francis lives out the post-war period, reliving the days of his childhood as he waits for the return of another supposed hero. Francis, on the other hand, seems to be the closest approximation of "true" heroism. When he fell onto a live grenade, he was willing to sacrifice his life to save his platoon, which disfigured his face. But does that make him a hero? Enrico Rucelli: Francis met Enrico during his time at war. His experiences are used to show the extent of war as he lost both his legs and his left arm. He has a cheerful attitude despite his injuries but he does feel despair. Francis is plagued by the fact that he couldn’t stop his then-girlfriend, Nicole Renard from getting raped by Larry LaSalle.

I also really liked Nicole, up until a certain point. She wasn't to blame for what happened, and how she reacted, but her behaviour still irritated me. But, prior to that, she came across as a genuinely kind girl, who was very sweet to Francis. This book was the second of my GCSE texts. Given my prior enjoyment of 'Of Mice and Men' and my fondness for war books, I was quite looking forward to reading this, and dived eagerly into it straight away. This is another one of those books which my son brought home from school, apparently it is part of his GCSE English curriculum. I wasn't really looking forward to it and I was thinking it was just going to be a war thiller. I loved to read the book because it explains every setting or mood with great detail, that I had a vivid imagination while I was reading some parts of the book. Also, because of the great details, it was much easier to understand the theme of the book. I absolutely recommend this book to young adults because it “will” really help them understand the true reason of life. Oh, I have eyes… but no ears to speak of… was an important quote because it shows the description of the main character, Francis because it explained his life and how he looks like.

There are many other characters in the novel that are important but not as important as Francis, Nicole and Larry: However, after that first reading, I came away disappointed- the book was not what I had expected at all. Despite what I said before about it being the structure rather than the content that contributes to the book's success, I find the themes that are interwoven throughout the story to be very effective, particularly that of heroism and what defines it, war in its many forms, love, and the loss of innocence. Recently, I read a book called Heroes, by Robert Cormier. Robert is an American author and journalist known for his novels, which target young adults. His childhood life was mostly reading books, and staying home. Robert was the second of the eight children born to Lucien Joseph and Irma M.Cormier. He has won a number of awards and achievements. For instance, Robert won the Margaret A.Edwards Award, Phoenix Award from the the Children’s Literature Association, and many more, which captures the attention of more and more young adults. We learn how Nicole and her family gradually withdrew from life in Frenchtown before moving away for good, when Francis recalls meeting with Norman Rocheleau during the war, and learns how they left suddenly. The writer creates an atmosphere of mystery around the Renard family when Norman says, All kinds of rumours about her, Francis, and continues, She was like... A hermit. Then she was gone. Her and her family. Left Frenchtown without telling anybody.

This book was interesting and I thought that the characters were well introduced as we are given a lot of information for such a short book but overall it just wasn't my cup of tea.One thing I admired in this book was the complex characters and the theme of what makes a hero. None of the characters were stereotypes and each character had committed good deeds and bad deeds making them neither angelic or evil. There is a fine line between what it means to be a good or bad person and Cormier showed us just how blurred the line can be. Larry asks a question near to the end of the book that captures the book's central theme perfectly, "Does that one sin of mine wipe away all the good things?". Nicole is a kind girl, and wants to help people. She becomes a volunteer... with the Monument Red Cross... preparing food kits for servicemen. I’ve had many ‘heroes’ in my life- most of them my friends, many inspired me to be a better me, a better Brice. But does that ultimately constitute them as heroes? According to dictionaries, being a hero means to be a person who is admired for their courage, outstanding achievements, or noble qualities. The GI Bill is mentioned in the text in regards to the later plans of the veterans, which they discuss in the St Jude Club. Joe LaFontaine speaks about how the government would be willing to pay for his college education and intends to become a teacher. However, the positive outlook is shown to be false, as the veterans are later presented as pessimistic people, especially Arthur Rivier, who struggles to cope with not talking about the war.