Anti-Hero - Academic Mode

Definition of Anti-Hero
Anti-hero is a literary device used by writers for an outstanding character in a play or book whose characteristics are opposite to those of a conventional hero. The protagonist is generally admired for his bravery, strength, charm, or ingenuity. While an antihero is usually clumsy, unsolicited, unskilled, and has both good and bad traits.

The origin of this literary device is marked in the 18th century, but there have been literary figures who believe that the concept of an antihero has lately been the Use of antiheroes on television and in books has increased and has become bolder than ever. Nowadays there are thousands of shows, books and films depicting such characters who are widely admired by the public.

Common anti-hero examples
Tylor Durden of Chuck Palahniuk's Fight Club
Don Draper of Mad Men, role of Jon Hamm
Edward Rochester of Jane Eyre of Charlotte Bronte
Examples of Anti-Hero
The Majo Most television shows these days feature dark characters. The most famous TV shows have antiheroes who seem to have both positive and negative traits. Many have successfully explored and impressively portrayed the darkest aspects of human life, fantasies and psyches from these shows are discussed below:

Example 1: Dexter (by Jeff Lindsay)
Dexter Morgan - the main character of the famous TV series Dexter - is one of the most famous anti-heroes of late. He is a blood spatter analyst for the Miami Police Department. He is a kind and loving father, friend, and husband who has an anti-social personality that leads him to murder criminals.

The idea of just killing the guilty doesn't seem so bad at first, it sounds rational, but it is Not. Expresster didn't become a serial killer to rid society of crime. He did this because he enjoyed it while the social cleansing portion came in as an offshoot. The show shows he's slow, which is a good case for a modern day antihero.

Example # 2: Lord of the Rings (by J. Tolkien)
There is a wide range of opinions on whether or not Tolkien's character Gollum should be considered an antihero to be viewed as. He doesn't have any good or useful qualities, but his character is a perfect example of the struggle we wage in our daily life when choosing between good and bad.

Gollum is depicted as a swamp creature warning those who want the ring. The good side of him that shows up occasionally makes him a loyal servant. The dark side of him, infected by greed for having the ring, makes him do nasty things. This eventually leads to his death. Hence, Gollum can rightly be called the anti-hero of the novel.

Function of the anti-hero
Anti-hero can serve a great purpose if used skillfully. An antihero brings the spice and flavor to a script and the more mundane approach to the idea of using antiheroes shows that it has a lot more potential compared to the traditional style. It can be used to represent many things at once, such as social deficiencies, human weaknesses and political culture.

An antihero usually plays the most prominent role after the protagonist and is portrayed as the union of good and bad. Instead of having two different people who represent two extremes, an ant i-hero combines both into one person, thus revealing the true nature of humanity.

This is why people associate better with some stories than others. Gulliver from Jonathan Swift's Guliver's Travels and Jean Valjean from Victor Hugo's Les Misérables are two such characters. These two characters can exemplify anyone who has suffered throughout their life, but they are not the kind of characters one can admire.

Also, in modern society when we are presented with a character that is too straight and straight, we find it Too good to be true. The social upheaval that the entire world as a community has been facing recently has predisposed us to be skeptical of almost everything. The greatness that a conventional antagonist shows is something that we do not witness in society, that is why finding it far from reality, suffering and pain are part of human life, so we relate better to a character who has suffered through throughout life, and that has good and bad sides, than a character that is only seen doing good.