Villains as a Complex Creatures - Essay Example

The story of Eric from The Cape is a great example of fluidity between the definitions of hero and villain. As a child, it is clear that Eric wants to be a hero. He feels his cape gives him special powers. He likes what is good and wants to work hard to support it. Once he loses his cape, even though he leads a life of incredible good fortune with Angie, he seems lost. He is no longer a good person. He is certainly no hero.

Left to his own devices, is the true character Eric a person without any redeeming qualities? Does Eric need a crutch (i.e. his cape) to be good? Doesn't goodness come from within? These are questions for a longer paper. 3:10 to Yuma illustrates this dichotomy a bit more effectively in the personages of Ben Wade, a villain if there ever was one, and Evans, a hero. Wade shoots innocent people and feels nothing, as we see at the beginning of the story. The contrast between Wade and Evans is key.

Without the good of Evans, it would be harder to see the bad of Wade. Nevertheless, we see people change. In the end, Wade effectively saves Evans' life on the train. Is he a cold-hearted killer after all? He does seem to live by some kind of code. What does it mean that it is Evans he saves? Does he see the good in Evans and feel like he is worth saving for that reason? These are curious questions that the story leaves us with. A final complex villain is Lengel from Updike's story. It is hard to call Lengel a villain since he is not especially malicious or evil.

He is out of touch and prudish. He is a somewhat unpleasant man, especially in contrast to Sammy. He tells the girls in the story to dress properly, which is not a bad thing, just bad in Sammy's opinion. In the end, Lengel does have a conscience in the way he talks to Sammy about his parents and how they will feel if he quits his job. Lengel is a bad character only in superficial contrast to Sammy, who is a somewhat irritating character. He is not a villain. He is certainly not one-dimensional and shows the ability to express various feelings.

Each of these characters in their way presents to us an important perspective on the ways that good and bad people interact. The lessons that they teach us are important to learn. Not all villains are perfectly bad, nor or all good people perfectly good.