Microsoft Word final-current Developments at the Intersection of British Children-online-version doc

5.4.9
 
The contemporary hero: A stocktaking 
As we have seen, the hero or the heroine of current British fantasy novels for children 
is influenced by many different factors, notably background, absence of authority, fellowship 
and gender. All those contribute substantially to the personal development of the hero. A 
crisis of identity, which marks the end of childhood, is followed by a period of transition 
before maturity and initiation can be reached. Whilst growing up, the hero is acquainted with 
the duties and responsibilities he has as a full adult member of society. At the same time, he 
has to learn adult conflict-solving. All these aspects are contained within the quest, whose 
main task is to prepare and to qualify the hero for his new social position. With its external 
and internal elements, the obligatory quest symbolises the hero’s journey from childhood to 
maturity. Another function of the quest is the definition and the outlining of the hero’s goals 
in life.
Although the gender of current fantasy heroes can still be influenced by stereotypes of 
old and thus have an effect on the kind and the prioritisation of the quest, the British fantasy 
novel for children increasingly strives for more neutral and balanced, less prejudiced 
characters, either by a relative strengthening of heroines and a relative weakening of the 
hero,
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or by the balancing combination of hero and heroine in a duo. As the stereotypical 
roles of weak females and strong males are phasing out, other qualities are given special 
emphasis. In view of the changing demands a globalised primary or secondary world makes, 
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An interesting approach to a further study into the relationship of the gender of the author and that of the 
heroes would be to include the influence of the gender of the author’s own sex on the concept and the sex of the 
fantasy heroes.
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This is not to say that in current fantasy novels girls are generally presented as more boyish and boys as more 
girlish. Rather, any extreme differences in the portrayal of the heroes are moderated in favour of a harmonious 
general effect.

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the heroes’ skills have to adapt to the new circumstances. In a primary world which is linked 
with a global communications network and dominated by mass media, fantasy heroes for 
instance need to hone their communication skills so as to be able to use the latest technology. 
Current fantasy novels for children which deal with this phenomenon are for example 
Hellbent
and Artemis Fowl. Whereas in Hellbent, Hell is fully technicised and equipped with 
all modern communications devices, Colfer’s Artemis Fowl and the fairies are engaged in an 
arms race during which they vie with one another in technical refinement. At the same time as 
these new technologies make their arrival in fantasy novels, an infrastructural linking-up takes 
place. Trans- or even inter-worldly ties immensely enlarge
the room for manoeuvre by 
allowing for contact between beings which would otherwise be separated by space and/ or 
time.
With evil taking up so far unknown dimensions, the hero has to react in an appropriate 
way. Although the spreading of evil and the dimensions of one or several worlds may become 
less clear, the hero can rely either on modern means of communication and transport or their 
magical equivalents. This way, he is on par with the villain. During his conflict with one or 
several representatives of evil, the hero may fight for his personal victory but also for the 
public welfare which is endangered by the global threat. In doing so, the hero simultaneously 
defends global values, morals, norms and traditions.
The hero of current British fantasy novels for children stands for values which 
distinguish themselves by their universality and timelessness. Besides friendship and/ or love, 
honesty and courage in the face of danger, a pronounced sense of justice prevails in 
combination with a strong desire for harmony and peace. The message conveyed is that it 
does not take any extraordinary skills or predestination in order to become a hero. Saving the 
world, a topic of current interest, is not the exclusive right or duty of a chosen elite but is open 
to “everychild”, so to speak. More often than not initially inconspicuous children get involved 
in a quest and the role of the hero without intending it and, as we have seen, actively reject the 
sudden demands, duties, responsibilities and conflicts at least for a while. Once they accept 
their special situation, those fantasy heroes can grow with their tasks and quest, without which 
they would most probably have remained insignificant. As Nester observes, such heroes 
develop from young, naïve, inexperienced and dependent children to responsible, sensible and 

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mature members of society.
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As a rule, the respective hero or heroes grow with their tasks. 
Some develop more than others, yet none remains unchanged.
As far as the conveyance of educational goals is concerned, current British fantasy 
novels for children are didactic. Even though exemplary behaviour – courage, virtue, 
selflessness, reliability and esprit de corps - on the part of the hero is highly estimated and 
also shown, it is not presented as the ultimate truth. Today heroes and villains are portrayed as 
complex characters moving between many shades of grey. For this reason, a rigid 
categorisation is neither practicable nor wise. Instead of holding the hero up as a paragon, 
importance is attached to showing him with all his strong and weak points alike, rendering 
him more plausible. With the hero not being entirely free from negative traits, the still 
prevailing adjustment
towards good rather than evil is ensured by other methods. These 
comprise for instance happy endings, or at least the prospects of hope and the improvement of 
intolerable situations at the end of a novel or a series.
In the children’s classics as in the current fantasy publications, great hopes are placed 
in the hero and his quest. As expected, the respective hero is under pressure to succeed so as 
not to disappoint these hopes of trust, security, harmony, peace and the restitution of order. If 
he failed, the inevitable consequence would be a world marked or even controlled by evil that 
would shatter all this ardent desire. Consequently, current British fantasy novels for children 
either establish or at least attempt to hold out the prospect of a world as intact as can be that 
permits individual opportunities for development for everyone and which is not threatened by 
social, political, ecological or other destruction.
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Holle Nester. Shadows of the Past: Darstellung und Funktion der geschichtlichen Sekundärwelten in J.R.R. 
Tolkiens The Lord of the Rings, Ursula K. Le Guins Earthsea-Tetralogy und Patricia Mc Killips Riddle-
Master-Trilogy.
Trier: Wissenschaftlicher Verlag Trier, 1993.

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