Ultimately both men are flawed, both carry out heroic acts for the wrong reasons. Thus Cormier questions whether 'true heroism' can ever truly exist. Is the notion fact or fiction? Yet he doesn't stop there. The rape of Nicole also seems to question the morality of of society's acceptance of actions carried out during war-time whilst in uniform against those perpetrated when out of it. Which rather begs the question, can might ever be right? The book’s purpose was to show how much betrayal, love, hate, guilt, and forgiveness can impact a person. Also, it shows how some things cannot go the way you wanted. Additionally, those words are not always what you think they are, since all of those traits can hurt instead of help. The overall message of the book is to teach you a lesson about love, hate, guilt, and forgiveness. This book was the second of my GCSE texts. Given my prior enjoyment of 'Of Mice and Men' and my fondness for war books, I was quite looking forward to reading this, and dived eagerly into it straight away.

Cormier leaves a trail of little signs about Larry not being all he seems. For example, he seems to have super-human powers – when Joey LeBlanc whispers to Francis about Larry’s name sounding unreal, Larry hears what he says and replies, That’s right – it’s real. It is likely that he guesses what Joey is saying as he has been in this situation before. When he tap-dances, it is with machine-gun speed. This foreshadows close foreshadow Something that warns of or suggests a future event. his activities during the war, but also highlights a dangerous aspect to him, because a machine-gun is a lethal killing machine. In addition, there are dark hints that he had ‘gotten into trouble’ in New York City, but nobody dares to ask about these. Francis tells the reader that nobody really knew anything about Larry and that he discouraged questions. This is another one of those books which my son brought home from school, apparently it is part of his GCSE English curriculum. I wasn't really looking forward to it and I was thinking it was just going to be a war thiller. Before, I felt that Francis not killing Larry was a slight let down but now I realise that not every book needs a plot twist to be great. I don't think Robert Cormier wanted this novel to be exciting and intriguing - I think he would have wanted it to be thought-provoking and it is! I could argue that the book was anti-climatic but I wasn't disappointed when Francis wouldn't shoot Larry. I felt that Larry had got his deserved fate when he lost his legs because it meant he could no longer be the Larry LaSalle he was (strutting about like Fred Astaire and with an air of self-confidence) and LaSalle is described as a shadow of who he used to be. Young soldier, Francis Cassavant, has just returned to Frenchtown after World War ll horribly maimed and disfigured. She takes a long time to understand that what happened that night was Larry’s fault alone. She admits this to Francis at the end of the novel, adding that she felt unable to blame Larry because she knew that nobody would believe her: The police? He was a big war hero. He didn’t beat me up. No visible wounds. She apologises to Francis, saying I shouldn’t have said those things to you that day... You weren’t to blame for what happened. She adds, I realised that later... So the reader sees that, like Francis, she has carried a heavy burden for years.

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The value of wartime heroism is also called into question through Larry's Silver Star medal. Despite being a brave act, it was ultimately motivated by self-preservation. But Cormier doesn't stop there, he also highlights the disturbing contrast between Larry's celebrated violence towards enemies in combat and his reprehensible sexual violence (rape) towards Nicole, and the fact that Nicole is underaged makes this even more despicable. And it has been heavily implied in the book that this wasn’t his first time, either. As the days pass in Frenchtown, Francis lives out the post-war period, reliving the days of his childhood as he waits for the return of another supposed hero. Francis has loved and felt protective of Nicole Renard since he first saw her when they were in the seventh grade. He fell instantly in love with her and used to create opportunities to be near her. He says he used to wait for her to come out of her friend, Marie LaCroix’s apartment, like a sentry on lonely guard duty. He feels that there is a connection between them, and as they grow older, Francis’ feelings change from those of a child to those of a teenager. He tells her that he loves to watch her dance, and she replies that she feels the same about watching him play table tennis. On the day of Francis’ big tournament, he keeps looking up to see whether Nicole is watching him. She is, and he says that he saw her eyes on me, shining for me. To that end, Francis disguises his identity from the residents of his hometown, giving a fake name at his boarding house and always traveling with a scarf and hat to cover his wounds. As he stalks about Frenchtown hunting for any news of Larry, he meets other local veterans and begins to frequent their favorite bar, the St. Jude Club. At the bar, the other veterans talk eagerly of their future plans now that the war is over, but never of their experiences overseas. Eventually, one the veterans, Arthur Rivier, recognizes Francis but agrees to keep his identity secret. Not long after, Francis encounters Arthur drunkenly slumped over in alley. As Francis helps him, Arthur begins to pour out his emotions, lamenting that nobody wants to talk about the horrible truth of what happened during the war, and exclaiming that the war wasn’t a stage for glamorous, heroic soldiers, but merely a group of terrified children caught up in a violent struggle for survival.

Nicole is a kind girl, and wants to help people. She becomes a volunteer... with the Monument Red Cross... preparing food kits for servicemen.

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Maimed and disfigured whilst fighting in the World War Two, young Francis Cassavant is returning to his hometown as a hero. But one who must hide both his face and his identity. I suppose one of the things that is a deciding factor in which books get to be put on the GCSE line-up is how they are written, and in fact, the rich language used is something that all of my GCSE texts have in common, which I love.