Cruise, Tom, and Willem Dafoe, perf. Born on the Fourth of July. Dir. Oliver Stone. Universal Pictures, 1989. Web.

26 Nov. 2015.

 

Born on Fourth of July is the movie which shows how a hero turns as an antihero. Kovic who played as an antihero and struggles through all his life. People however don’t understand what Kovic went through. Kovic later becomes an impassioned critic of the war. The path Kovic follows shows the loss of the moral code that ends a hero’s journey and begins that of an anti-hero.

 

Michael, Jonathan. "The Rise of the Anti-Hero." Relevantmagazine.com. Relevant Magazine, 26 Apr. 2013. Web. 26

Nov. 2015.

 

This is a great article as it explains the rise of the anti-hero and the character behind it. Throughout history we have seen the evolution of the anti-hero grow as some preferred movies, articles, books that have more of this character rather than your typical hero. The article gives a little bit of background of some of the most popular Hollywood movies from 1940 through 1970 featuring some of the best anti-heroes. The author gives a historical context about real life events such as WW2 and Kennedy assassinations that give life to some of these characters. As for the 21st century, more horrific events happen and the moral of the anti-hero seems to be fading away as the moral the once had for the good is no longer true to us. Many anti-heroes act with redemption as they are trying to save someone or them self from evil before a tragedy occurs.  This article has some great points about the character, so for me it was a big help to understand The Rise of the Anti-Hero.

 

Osborn, David K. "GREEK MYTHOLOGY Gaia | Apollo | Asclepius | Hygeia | Chiron | Hermes | Achilles |

The Asclepions." Greek Mythology: Achilles. Greekmedicine.net, 2007. Web. 26 Nov. 2015.

 

This is the story of the “almost” invincibility of Achilles in battle. Widely regarded as the mightiest warrior in Greece, Achilles had an unknown week spot, his left heel. This short story helped me understand the power and, at the same time, vulnerability of this warrior. The Trojans originally thought he was invincible. Achilles was seen as a hero for the Greeks, causing the Trojans to regard him as their biggest enemy. Yet were able to kill him the only way possible, through his left heel. This story is important for my analysis because it shows Achilles' weakness, and therefore portrays him as a beatable warrior in battle. This fact enriches our Hero/Anti-Hero theme project.

 

Poniewozik, James. "The Greatest American Antihero." Time 180.3 (2012): 60-61. Academic Search Complete. Web.

26 Nov. 2015.

 

This article discusses how a chemistry teacher turned into a crystal-meth dealer. The philosophy of anti-hero drama is that evil can be hidden anywhere, in anybody, and that in the some behaviors, we may accept or even depend on it. Walter White becomes the anti-hero we make our hero. This is a display on how the promotion of the anti-hero keeps being revisited in current media. This article is further proof how the passage of time has not only allowed for the birth of the anti-hero but has brought society to a point of expecting the anti-hero over the hero persona.

 

Share, Don and Lindsay Garbutt, ed. “The Antihero.” Audio blog post. Poetry Foundation. Poetry Magazine, 1 Mar.

2015. Web. 6 Nov. 2015.

               

This podcast reads a couple of poems that are themed towards the antihero. “On Trans” is one of the poems discussed by the editors of Poetry magazine. This podcast gave insight to how the state transition is in existence. Transition pertains to the theme of hero versus anti-hero due to how time has changed the perception of the hero. The existence of the antihero is only acceptable due to the transitional expectations of those seeking heroes.

 

Wilson, Seán Michael, Chie Kutsuwada, and Tsunetomo Yamamoto. Hagakure: The Code of the Samurai. Tokyo:

Kodansha International, 2010. Print.

 

This book is the moral and ethical code by which the noblest samurai lived to be a good warrior. This code of conduct for Japanese warriors details what is important to the noble samurai by maintaining the values demonstrated in this manual. The Hagakure is integral to the notion of the hero and villain set in ancient Japan. The idea of anti-hero is also established in this text due to the fact that this script helped to establish a boundary where the martial artist's alignment falls. The samurai is either a warrior of virtue, or a villain as this text may illustrate. However, the Hagakure has an underlying message that lends well to the notion of the anti-hero. A samurai may be a good retainer or vassal fulfilling his warrior duties and may find that it is in his clan’s best interest to succeed from one lord to another in order to raise the prospects of his house by killing his former masters. On the surface the Hagakure may suggest this treacherous act is valid for the samurai. There is an underlying theme presented in this example as, one can postulate that the house of the betrayed Japanese retainers will view the traitor as a villain where the traitor will consider themselves an anti-hero.