As was the general consensus in class, Kyle can be seen as the primary hero in Victory Lap because he has the courage to break away from his confines, both those set forth by society and those by his parents. His saving of the damsel in distress is likely the most archetypal conclusion to a hero narrative. Yet as a protagonist, he is anything but conventional. His likable, innocent, nerdy personality isn't uncommon in modern literature, but his inner, psychological state is completely wacky. Kyle emerges from a highly restrictive environment, not only obeying his parents' rules, but conforming completely to them, so much so that his father resides in his consciousness, and he doesn't dare to disobey. Unsurprisingly, Kyle has built up quite a bit of anger over the years and lets it all loose when he attacks the unnamed assailant.
While saving Alison, Kyle almost goes too far in his berserk state and nearly delivers a killing blow to the man. This topic generated some controversy as to whether Kyle is actually a hero or not, and whether he had truly acted with courageous intentions. I think what Saunders is really emphasizing here is that behind every heroic action there is an imperfect human, with complex motives and emotions. Saunders goes through a lot of trouble to introduce Kyle and Alison as initially (at least partially) insane characters, but in their social interaction they seem perfectly normal. Every human is like this in one way or another. We can never fully understand the actions of a hero, but we accept that the time and conditions were right for that person, and that the world is for the better because of it.
Interesting post, Louis. I think Kyle did act as a hero in the reading because he finally came out of the shell he was in with his parents. He stopped a girl from being kidnapped and the mentality that his parents engraved in his mind went out the window. To me, that is heroic because he emerged as his own self, rather than being influenced by his parents, while also being a hero.
ReplyDeleteI'd agree that Kyle was trying to be a hero when he tried to save that girl from being kidnapped. He just got carried away afterwards and tried to go too far. But in the end he really did something good, helping someone that was out of his way. He didn't do it expecting some kind of reward and him trying to kill the man was just him going overboard. Even though we might not have the same kind of problem he has, it's the fact that he has any problems or flaws that makes him relatable to us.
ReplyDeleteI would say that it's even more selfless because he seems to think that his parents will actually be happier with him if he doesn't do anything, and he's risking their anger by going out and breaking all of these directives. We don't actually get to see the scene where his parents react to what he's done, though we do see that Alison's parents are happy with what he did. Kyle's parents might actually have been mad at him for saving Alison since he sort of broke free from their control and put himself in danger. And this makes it more of a heroic act for me since there's nothing really in it for him, if he fails he's obviously in trouble and could be killed by the attacker, but even if he succeeds he still may get punished.
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