How Does Cormier Present Injustice In Heroes

The themes of both justice and injustice permeate the entirety of both Henry V and Heroes. From the opening chapter of Heroes with its horrific description of the war injuries sustained by Francis Cassavant, right through to the final chapter where he leaves to live a new life, justice plays a critical part in every action. Likewise, each scene in Henry V is constructed to illustrate how the factor of justice and what is morally right, impacts the decisions made. Intentionally, the writers introduced these themes from the start to inform the reader that these will be two very key aspects of the novels.
From the start of the book, Cormier begins to present the theme of unwarranted fate and injustice. The opening sentence ends with the shocking …show more content…
Throughout the entire novel Heroes, Cormier discusses the love affair between Francis Cassavant and Nicole Renard. In a flashback to their days at school, we observe a younger Francis unable to speak to Nicole properly due to his lack of confidence. Francis is aware of his shortcomings, as he mentioned that he would “plunge into an agony of regret.” The choice of the word “agony” suggests the pain and torture that he has suffered as a result of his shyness and this also supports our knowledge of his love for Nicole. It is further supported when Francis says “I love her with all my heart” and due to his love, we see Francis pledge Nicole his “love” and “loyalty forever.” However, we later see in another flash back several years later how Francis breaks this promise and pledge to Nicole as he left her when she need him most. Despite Nicole saying “Don’t go” Francis left her as he always “did what Larry told him to do.” Nicole’s anger and disgust with Francis is revealed in the vocabulary she uses in their talk afterwards; “her voice sharp”, “anger flashes through her eyes” and “no pity in her voice.” However in the eyes of Francis, his reasons for leaving Nicole was because Larry reminded him of how he let him win in the table tennis contest years ago. This was significant to Francis as …show more content…
Similarly, the protagonist Francis is exceedingly consumed in the righteousness of his mission to murder Larry LaSalle making the roles of God and religion important factors throughout these texts. In Act 2, we observed Henry thanking God “Since God so graciously hath brought to light” for providing him with the knowledge of the existence of three English traitors, that later resulted in their deaths. This brings to the audience an idea of God helping to implement justice and by the choice of the word “graciously” we understand that God is compassionate and wants everything to be fair and equal. This is further supported when the French Constable is mocking the size of the English forces saying that there is “not enough for all our hands.” The Constable fears that the English will be so overwhelmed by the size of their approach that they will surrender without a fight. This correlates with the famous hyperbole of English losses being miniscule whilst the French having a large quantum of deaths as they had by far more soldiers. We understand from this that despite all odds were in favour of the French, the English won meaning that it could only be due to the fact that God supported the English as they were right and Henry was the correct holder to the French throne. This again shows that even in the most ridiculous of