During class, we defined a new type of anti-hero from Prometheus by Lord Byron. Though by our definition, Prometheus was good and tried to help people, he was still punished by Zeus. That really made me think “what does good and bad really mean?” They’re really just our own definitions. For example, killing a killer. As a society, we understand that killing someone is wrong. But what if we kill someone who kills people?
In order to explore the ideas of anti-heroes more, I’ve looked for common anti-heroes in literature and Jay Gatsby is a prime example. He earns his money through dishonest ways, and yet he has the reader’s sympathy because of his deep pain and strangely romantic obsession with Daisy Buchannan. He is a tragic figure because of his fatal flaw: his belief that he can go back in time and win back the Daisy that he was in love with. Though he is not the typical hero who worked hard and earned money honestly as well as winning his love interest, there’s still much to learn from his story, which is the point of the anti-hero. Not all lessons in life are “Be the hero! Be good and everything good will happen to you!” In this case, Gatsby’s lesson is that there isn’t a way to return to the past. Being stuck is what causes anguish, and is thus a cautionary tale. The negative, but just as important life lessons, are taught by anti-heroes.
In addition to life lessons, I think society’s obsession with anti-heroes is a way to try to understand the point of view of people who do terrible things. Unfortunately, right and wrong are not black and white values and so we try to empathize and understand the why.
