Father Comes Home From the Wars

Hero is the play’s primary character. While he is the protagonist, Hero can also be considered an anti-hero or a tragic hero.

In Part 1, Hero exhibits heroic traits by looking out for his community of fellow enslaved people. When he decides not to go to the war with the Colonel, the Chorus’s Second says, “But there will be beatings for all of us / When Boss hears what he’s decided” (33). Hero decides to “harm [himself] in some bloody way” to “ease up the harm Boss wants to do to us” (35). He is willing to cut off his own foot to protect his fellow enslaved people. However, Homer reveals that Hero’s willingness to cut off his own foot is penance for his former betrayal of Homer by telling the Colonel where Homer escaped to and then chopping off Homer’s foot at the Colonel’s command. This betrayal makes Hero more like an anti-hero than a tragic hero.

In terms of narrative arc, Hero’s story follows the pattern of a tragic hero since he is not given a happy ending. In Part 2, Hero makes the decision to follow his own path to freedom by staying with the Colonel rather than leaving with Smith.