The+Reluctant+Hero



The Reluctant Hero- The Reluctant Hero is a character in a story who becomes a hero, against his/her will. They are usually more flawed than a normal hero, often lacking in self confidence and not feeling like they are up to being a hero. They are typically forced into being a hero by either some kind of personal disaster, or a call to arms by a character who knows that they must be the hero. Typically throughout their experiences the Reluctant Hero gains confidence in himself and uses this confidence to defeat some kind of evil. After the Hero defeats this evil, they are usually much wiser than they were when they first started their journey. They are no longer as scared and timid as they once were, and may serve as inspiration for future heroes.





Bellerophon Bellerophon was a Greek hero in the Illiad. After he killed his brother and was exiled, the King, Proteus, pardoned him of his crime. After the kings wife became attracted to him, and he rejected her, she spread lies about him. The King forced him to slay a Chimera to make up for this, which Bellerophon didn't want to do. Bellepharon hadn't done any wrong, but was being forced to do this by The King. Bellerophon defeated the Chimera but was given more tasks to complete for his "crime".

Bellerophon can be considered a reluctant hero because he did not want to go on any of these adventures. He was framed by The Queen and was made to slay the Chimera. The definition of a reluctant hero is someone who is forced into action. Bellerophon did not want to help people, he was forced to.

=Frodo-= In the beginning of Lord of the Rings, Frodo is an incredibly shy character, as most hobitses are. His mothers side of the family, which includes his uncle Bilbo, are known for adventure. After Bilbo takes the Ring of Power back from Gollum, it is eventually entrusted to Frodo. When Frodo learns that he must carry the ring at least as far as Rivendell from the Maia Olorin (Gandalf, as he is called on Middle Earth) he is incredibly scared and reluctant to do so. He is aware that the ring has magical powers, but is hardly tempted to use it during the 17 years (in the novel Frodo waits 17 years before departing, in the book he waits closer to 17 minutes) he has the ring. Gandalf returns and explains to Frodo that the ring he holds is much more than some bewitched object, and that it is the ring that Sauron had created to control men (Frodo was somewhat familiar with this concept because Bilbo had taught him much about the elven language and of their legends). Frodo did not think he was strong enough to carry the ring, and that Gandalf, an all powerful being should be the one to carry it. Gandalf explains to Frodo that he cannot carry it because it has power over him, and that because of Frodos (and to a lesser extent all hobits) purity, only he can carry it. Frodo agrees to carry to at least Rivendell, where a council of Elves, Dwarves, Men, and the Istari (The five wizards including Gandalf, Saurumon, Radagast and two others, most of which did not attend) would decide what to do with the ring. Frodo, after a series of arguments and pitiful (albeit comical) attempts to destroy the ring, was chosen to bring it to Mount Doom where it would be destroyed. After about a 9 month journey Frodo finally destroyed it, becoming an incredibly strong and brave person in the process, and eventually left Middle Earth with Olorin and the Elves for Valinor. = =

Arjuna-
Arjuna was a master archer and the third of the five Pandava Brothers, the sons of King Pandu that was the ruler of the city of Hastinapur until he decided to renounce his throne and pass it on to his blind brother Dhritarashtra, after he killed his wife mistaking her for a deer while hunting. He went to exile and had his five sons at that time, the brother came to rule a territory close to Hastinapur called Indraprastha. Arjuna, who was a humble and peaceful man and that through his life had achieved great knowledge and skills played an important role in the war between the Pandavas and their cousins the Kauravas for the throne of Hastinapur known as the Kurukshetra war. The Kauravas where descendants of the ancient kuru kingdom, and so were the Pandavas. The Kauravas were known also as the haundred children of Dhritarashtra, who ruled Hastinapur at the Kurukshetra war. When the time for Dhritarashtra to pass on the city came he chose the eldest of the Pandavas, Yudhisthira, instead of his eldest son, Duryodhana. Duryodhana then created a plan to kill the Pandava brothers, but they managed to escape, and Indraprastha was taken by Duryodhana. The Pandavas then tried to retake Indrasprastha peacefullyn moreover Krishna than went Hastinapur to talk Duryodhana, into giving the Pandavas' land back or just five villages, one for each of the Pandavas brothers so they would avoid the death of hundreds of people. When his requests were refused, he went back to the city of Dwarka.

By the eve of war between the two clans, both Arjuna and Duryodhana went to Krishna to ask for help in the war. Krishna then gave them the option of choosing between Krishna's army or his advises in the war. Duryodhana chose Krishna's army and Arjuna chose Krishna himself. Before the war would begin, however, Arjuna felt reluctant about taking part in the massacre of his own family. As shown in the following text: //"There saw Arjuna standing fathers and grandfathers, teachers, uncles, brothers, sons and grandsons as also companions.////And also fathers-in-law and friends in both the armies. When the son of Kunti (Arjuna) saw all these kinsmen thus standing arrayed.// //He was overcome with great compassion and uttered this in sadness;// //'When I see my own people arrayed and eager for fight O Krishna,// //My limbs quail, my mouth goes dry, my body shakes and my hair stands on end//.//The Gandiva slips from my hand and my skin too is burning all over. I am not able to stand steady. My mind is reeling.'"//

Krishna then reminds him of his caste (which is warrior) and the importance of him following his duty as a warrior. He also comforts him saying that although many will die and their material body will die, their spiritual body would always live. Arjuna then goes into battle.

Another tipe of reluctance that comes from an important character would be Renton, from Dany Boyle's Trainspotting movie. In a point of the movie where he and his friends come up with a big amount of money, he sees himself between choosing to betray his friends and run away with the money, or let it be and slip it even.  One of the lasts scenes of the movie is when they're all celebrating in a pub for getting the money, and suddenly Franco (Right guy from the picture) starts fighting with a guy because he bumped into him. That is when Renton makes his mind about stealing the money, He realizes that they are not actually his friends but only people with the same problems.

Psychological implications: The reluctant hero is recurring through history because it is closer to what we are as people. People connect easier to these characters because they are more likely to be reluctant if faced with the same task. These characters evolve and act more like actual people than other heroes do and that makes them more relatable.

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