In one iconic and powerful exchange in the movie The Dark Knight, Two-Face, a heroic district attorney turned villain said to one of the protagonists, Jim Gordon, “You either die a hero or live long enough to see yourself become a villain.” This quote eloquently describes the ideology of characters who are neither a hero nor truly a villain, but fall somewhere between. For many, morally grey characters are fascinatingly terrifying since their actions are understandable, but also condemnable. Often, morally grey character have good intentions but have extreme viewpoints or methods that go too far and disregard collateral damage. This type of character is developed in both the fantasy novel Vicious by V.E. Schwab and the fantasy novel The Song
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The Song of Achilles tells the story of a Greek hero, Achilles, whose name can easily be recognized as one of the great heroes of the mythical and legendary Trojan War. Yet a completely different picture is painted in Madeline Miller’s version of the story. While Achilles started out as the same familiar hero, Miller’s version was eventually overcome by the allure of fame and glory which were so important to the Greeks. Every action Achilles took was for to protect his own honor and glory, regardless of those being slaughtered around him as the war continued onwards. After the leader of the army made a foolish decision that leads to a disagreement with Achilles, Achilles and his army left the battle, and did not return even after the men beg, or after a women was raped, or even after the scales were tipped away from their favor through a deal Achilles’ goddess mother made with Zeus, king of the gods. After all these decisions, while watching the slaughter, it says in the novel, “This is the moment that Achilles and his mother have summoned: the Greeks, routed and desperate, without him. But when will it be enough?.... ‘They should hate Agamemnon. It is his pride that kills them.’ And yours.” (Miller 316) This conveys how while Achilles was driven by honor, and his initial disagreement had stemmed from the unjust treatment of a woman who was essentially a prisoner of war, in the end he cared about his ego and pride than soldiers fighting beside him or even his friends. Moreover, Achilles would not listen to the reason and logic Patroclus provided, instead steadfastly believing in his moral correctness. Consequently, he achieved infamy among the soldiers rather than fame, and lost the people most important to him. In a desperate attempt to hold off the advancing Trojans, Patroclus donned
The Song of Achilles tells the story of a Greek hero, Achilles, whose name can easily be recognized as one of the great heroes of the mythical and legendary Trojan War. Yet a completely different picture is painted in Madeline Miller’s version of the story. While Achilles started out as the same familiar hero, Miller’s version was eventually overcome by the allure of fame and glory which were so important to the Greeks. Every action Achilles took was for to protect his own honor and glory, regardless of those being slaughtered around him as the war continued onwards. After the leader of the army made a foolish decision that leads to a disagreement with Achilles, Achilles and his army left the battle, and did not return even after the men beg, or after a women was raped, or even after the scales were tipped away from their favor through a deal Achilles’ goddess mother made with Zeus, king of the gods. After all these decisions, while watching the slaughter, it says in the novel, “This is the moment that Achilles and his mother have summoned: the Greeks, routed and desperate, without him. But when will it be enough?.... ‘They should hate Agamemnon. It is his pride that kills them.’ And yours.” (Miller 316) This conveys how while Achilles was driven by honor, and his initial disagreement had stemmed from the unjust treatment of a woman who was essentially a prisoner of war, in the end he cared about his ego and pride than soldiers fighting beside him or even his friends. Moreover, Achilles would not listen to the reason and logic Patroclus provided, instead steadfastly believing in his moral correctness. Consequently, he achieved infamy among the soldiers rather than fame, and lost the people most important to him. In a desperate attempt to hold off the advancing Trojans, Patroclus donned