Answer:
The answer is in the explanation below:
Explanation:
- The writer of Heroes, Robert Cormier, said that he was concerned about the problems which young people had to deal with in modern society. After the bombing of Pearl Harbour there was a great feeling of patriotism across America, and young men and women rushed to join the services to do their bit for their country.
- Through Francis, the reader is able to see how a young man, approaching adulthood, had to cope with the pressures of going to fight in a faraway war, where he witnessed horrific things, then faced even more problems when he returned. Many men came back with physical injuries, like Francis, and they were helped, but there was very little support for people with psychological problems, so they were left to deal with these problems by themselves.
- Many young men had interrupted their education to go and fight, so the US government introduced the GI Bill which funded ex-servicemen to go back to college. It seems that there was more emphasis on the economy than on individuals’ mental welfare.
- Robert Cormier uses the film reels which Francis and his friends watch at the cinema, as well as Francis’ flashbacks, to allow the reader to experience the horrors of the war second-hand. This is exactly how the real inhabitants of small towns across the United States would have experienced the war.
