The Making Of Heroes Or Villians
Spider-Man, Batman, and Superman; all of these people were looked up upon others as heroes at some point in time. Most people as young kids saw fictional characters as their hero while others considered a relative or friend. The question is, how can you be considered a hero? Heroes are known for changing the world for the good and take on tasks that may seem impossible to the rest of us. On the other hand, villains possess the qualities of maliciousness and are devoted to wickedness or crime. Every villains job is to commit evil tasks on purpose to go against the plans of the hero or to get what it wants. Examples of both these concepts can be portrayed through Shakespeare's Hamlet which is best known for his abusive and murderous characteristics while Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye Holden, has a sensitive and self-loathing personality. Questions arise whether Hamlet or Holden are heroes or villains. Through each of these unique situations, Holden is depicted as an antihero while Hamlet is as a villain thanks to their circumstances, words and the way they interact with the world.
Holden is a confusing character in the sense that the readers don’t know whether to like or hate him. Based on his circumstances it’s understandable why he portrays such an antihero vibe. Although Holden does let certain situations go unnoticed that shouldn’t be, he later on reveals a sensitive event in his life that changes our perspective of him. He lets in on his brothers Allies death and describes his feeling for him. He says, “God he was a nice kid. I slept in the garage the night he died, and I broke all the goddam windows with my wrist. I hardly didn't even know I was doing it, and you didn’t know Allie. My hand still hurts me once in a while, when it rains and all, and I can't make a real fist anymore. ”(Salinger,44). Holden not only expresses sadness but anger as well. He didn’t know how to react upon this event because he had lost someone he truly cared about, his little brother Allie. In a way you can see Allie as Holdens hero because he was someone he admired not only for his intelligence but for his ability to be liked by everybody. The way Holden reacted wasn’t his fault because he has been traumatized by his brother death.
The main goal for Hamlet through the whole story was to kill and take vengeance for the person who killed his father, which clearly identifies him as a villain. A perfect example of the first stage of Hamlet turning into a villian was his reaction when killing Polonius. It’s at this point where we can really tell by his reaction whether he had good intentions, if it was an accident or if he is just villainous. When he killed Polonius, Gertrude his mother, was astonished by his murderous deed. Instead of feeling any remorse he gives the attention to something not even relevant to his action. He says, “A bloody deed? Almost as bad, good mother, As kill a king and marry with his brother”(3. 4. 34-35). His response reflects the thinking that his mother is being the one at fault. Hamlet feels that his mother marrying his uncle is just as bad as killing Polonius. If Hamlet's father hadn't died and if that ghost wouldn't had appeared then he wouldn't turn out as manic and crazy when his plans don't turn out as expected. His situation is just destined to turn out as villainous and creates tension between characters. Since his father has died and he has suffered his loss he wants the plans for the person that killed him, his uncle, to be destroyed as well.
Throughout Holden's journey of life he always gets stuck doing the wrong although he desires to make the right choices. He got kicked out of Pencey and got fed up with everyone so he decided to leave earlier than expected. The thing he didn’t want to return just yet for he was scared his mother would once more be disappointed in him and she was already overwhelmed by the death of Allie so he didn't want to be much more of a burden. Holden says, “ I had to pack these brand-new ice skates my mother had practically just sent me a couple of days before. That depressed me. I could see my mother going in Spaulding's and asking the salesman a million dopy questions—and here I was getting the ax again. It made me feel pretty sad. ”(Salinger,58). Holden never intended to do wrong but he always seems to be out of it because of his brother Allie. His actions are a reflection of all those feelings that have been bottled up because of Allie's death. He seems to want to hide the fact that he is still suffering about Allies loss. Holden wants to gain back his childhood because he desires to be with Allie once again, that's why he at times acts immaturely and makes wrong choice that lead up to him thinking he is a disappointment to his family.
There are countless examples where Hamlet demonstrates his wicked traits. One of these events was when he confessed to Ophelia he didn’t love her. He had taken her virginity and had made her believed she was special to him. Hamlet started doubting all women since his mother married his uncle despite loving his father very much. He took out all his anger and resentment on poor Ophelia that was only there to love him and had no intentions to hurt him. Hamlet said, “This was sometime a paradox, but now the time gives it proof. I did love you once. You should not have believed me, for virtue cannot so inoculate our old stock but we shall relish of it. I loved you not. ” (3. 1. 121-125). His only purpose was to do harm to Ophelia and play with her. Hamlet even went as far as blaming her for loving him. He explained that she shouldn’t had trust him because everyone is secretly rotten in the core. What makes this situation even worse was that Hamlet decide to confess his love when it was already too late, when Ophelia had already died. This not only demonstrates his villainous words but also his incredible mood swings in action. Holden is a character that has a very negative view on life and on people. He judges even before beginning to learn about a person. He desires to understanding and get along with the world even though he sometimes has a hard time. Despite that he still treats people with some respect even though he has a bad opinion about them. He admits, even if it sounds terrible, that he “ can even get to hate someone, just looking at them if they have cheap suitcases with them. ”(Salinger,120).
Although he feels this way towards people with cheap suitcases or, low socioeconomic status, he shows his true feelings when he donates $10 but the nuns don't want to accept his contribution even though at the end they did. Later he says, “After they left, I started getting sorry that I’d only given them ten bucks. I was sorry anyway, though. Goddam money. It always ends up making you blue ”(Salinger,126). Holden feels depressed in this scenario because he feels isolated and that is something he really hates. He wants to connect with other people and that’s why he gave the nuns money. He wanted them stay longer and talk with him but that didn’t work so he is now doubting about the amount he gave them. Although Holden gives the impression that he hates people, in the end he just wants to have someone to talk to but then again he blames other for his feelings of hate towards other people.
Hamlet was a hypocrite and treated people around him as if they were at fault of his father's death. He even went to the extreme and killed his friends from college, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. It's clear Hamlet saw them as disposable friends when he found out they were obeying Claudius, his uncle and king but most importantly his enemy. His friends were working against him so he wanted a way to get rid of them and he did! The first person he tells his plan about was Horatio. He was the only one he really trusted at this point. Hamlet tells him, “Th' effect of what I wrote?. That, on the view and knowing of these contents, Without debatement further, more or less, He should the bearers put to sudden death, Not shriving time allowed. They are not near my conscience”(5. 2. 41-65). Hamlet wrote a letter, playing as the king, ordering for his friends to be killed. He admits to Horatio that they brought their death on their own because they did whatever the king asked them to do, including spying on him.
