In Heroes, the main character, Francis, is a 19 year old war hero that has had his face disfigured in World War II due to him jumping on a grenade. The author of the story, Robert Cormier, develops Francis in a very interesting way as the story moves on. Francis Cassavant goes from shy and low self esteem, to having a little confidence, then to an insecure man after he disfigured his face. First, Francis’ insecurity of himself in the present time of the book makes him withdraw from society. In the story Francis says,”People glance at me in surprise and look away quickly or cross the street when they see me coming. I don’t blame them,” (Cormier 4). Also, he says“ If anything bothers me, it’s my nose. Or rather, the absence of my nose. My nostrils …show more content…
On page 58, Larry Lasalle tells Francis, “You’re a natural. Besides the reflexes, you have what I call sweet anticipation,” (Cormier 58). Also, due to Francis having a low self esteem when he was young, he says, “Nobody had ever cheered me before,” (Cormier 58). Francis has a period of confidence due to the table tennis, which starts a relationship with Nicole Renard, but this confidence leads to a huge letdown. Lastly, Francis is greatly affected by how people perceive him. On page 84, Francis sits back and looks at how doctors and nurses look at people like him,” Then realized that the doctors and nurses had probably become so accustomed to the wounded and the maimed that the abnormal has become normal to them,” (Cormier 84). Also, Francis sees how people in society view him on page 83,” As I walked along, I became aware of people coming upon me and turning away, or giving me wide walking space,” (Cormier 83). Francis becomes aware of how people act around him, and it makes him more aware of how people can act different around people abnormal to them. Francis Cassavant started out with low self esteem, had a bode of confidence, then had another setback, which set him up to remove himself from other people's