On The Heroism In Nostromo

Joseph Conrad (1857-1924) is a strict realistic novelist in twentieth century in Britain.Published in1904, Nostromo is the most outstanding novel among Conrad’s three socialpolitical ones. The magnificent scene, multiple views and complicated structure were oncethe focuses in the researches of critics. As for a novel with a background of social change,very few critics pay attentions to the heroism reflected in this work. And, the research resultsare rarely seen to discuss social meanings from the perspective of heroism.Heroism, gradually formed, has always been the spiritual value highly thought of bypeople during the development of human society. The inner sublime, great courage and heroicactions are the permanent connotation of heroism. Heroes seem to be born in horrible timesand in this novel with the background of troublous Costaguana, heroes seem to beindispensable. Nevertheless, the heroes created by Conrad are subversion to the concepts oftraditional heroes. In the novel, what creates the types of heroes is not only the temptation ofpersonal desires but also the push of social upheaval.Social and historical criticism is a method of literature criticism, which observes,analyzes and evaluates literary phenomena from the perspective of development of societyand history. It attaches importance to inclination of the writer and places emphasis on thevalue and social functions of the literary works. In twentieth century, the turbulence providesa fertile field for social and historical criticism to develop. Based on achievements ofpredecessors, the British critic Christorpher Caudwell points further that literature criticismshould perform active social functions and observe meanings of literary works consideringthe change of society and history. Nostromo is a modern novel with a great social backgroundand complex psychology. It will help us know Conrad’s view on heroism and his social idealfrom the perspective of social and historical criticism by analyzing the relation betweensubverted heroes and social reform in the novel.In the light of social and historical criticism, the thesis explores the reactions and fatesof the tragic heroes, hypocritical heroes and non-heroes created by the unrest society and thenthe individual and social causes behind, from the perspective of heroism, with the three typesof characters as the breakthrough point and disillusionment, escape and rebellion as the logic key words. After giving a literature review and a brief introduction to heroism, the thesisanalyzes the tragic heroes who are on the way to disillusionment. Devoted to the revolution,Nostromo and Decoud get betrayed, falling into despair and even facing death. Their tragicends root in contradiction of personal belief and social reality. And then it portrays thehypocritical heroes who choose to escape. By uncovering the glamorous heroic appearance ofGould and Nostromo, it tries to show the contrast between presentation and nature of the heroand probes reasons for escaping. At last, it depicts the non-heroes who rebel. As commonpeople, Hernandez and Monygham are on the way to rebellion and step forward in greatdanger. However, the emergence of non-heroes is an indictment against the unrest. Theconclusion tries to expound the process from disillusionment to escape and then to rebellion,which reflects a developing process of psychological changes and anxiety in a changing time.Through Nostromo, Conrad conveys a sense of crisis and his consideration for social reality.